THE  LOVE  AFFAIRS 
OF  THE  CONDES 

H.  NOEL  WILL 

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THE  LOVE-AFFAIRS  OF  THE 
CONDES 


THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS 
OF  THE  CONDES 

(1530-1740) 


BY 

H.    NOEL  WILLIAMS 

AUTHOR   OF 
"A   PRINCESS  OF  ADVENTURE" 


WITH  SEVENTEEN   ILLUSTRATIONS 


NEW  YORK 

CHARLES    SCRIBNER'S    SONS 

1912 


PREFATORY  NOTE 

THE  principal  authorities,  both  contemporary  and 
modern,  which  I  have  consulted  in  the  preparation 
of  this  volume  are  mentioned  either  in  the  text  or  the 
footnotes.  I  desire,  however,  to  acknowledge  my  obligations 
to  the  following  works  by  modern  writers  :  Due  d'Aumale, 
"  Histoire  des  Princes  de  Conde  ; "  M.  Edouard  Barthelemy, 
"  La  Princesse  de  Conde :  Charlotte  Catherine  de  la  Tre- 
moille  ; "  M.  Henri  Bouchot,  "  Les  Femmes  de  Brantome  ;  " 
Victor  Cousin,  "La  Jeunesse  de  Madame  de  Longueville  ; " 
Comte  Jules  Delaborde,  "  Eleonore  de  Roye,  Princesse  de 
Conde  (1535-1564)  ; "  M.  I.  Henrard,  "Henri  IV.  et  la 
Princesse  de  Conde ; "  MM.  Homberg  and  Jousselin,  "  La 
Femme  du  Grand  Conde*  ; "  Comte  Hector  de  la  Ferriere, 
"  Trois  Amoureuses  au  XVP  siecle ; "  and  M.  H.  Thirion, 
"  Madame  de  Prie  (1698-1727)." 

H.    NOEL   WILLIAMS 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER    I  ^ 

l'AGES 

Origin  of  the  House  of  Conde — Louis  de  Bourbon,  first  prince  of  the  name — 
His  modest  debut  at  the  Court — His  personal  appearance  and  character — 
Enmity  between  the  Bourbons  and  the  Guises — Conde  attaches  himself  to 
the  party  of  the  Connetable  Anne  de  Montmorency,  and  marries  the 
latter's  niece,  Eleonore  de  Roye— Noble  character  of  Eleonore — Gallantries 
of  Conde — His  early  military" career — Death  of  Henry  II.- — Progress  of  the 
Reformation  in  France — Conde  embraces  Protestantism  and  places  himself 
at  the  head  of  the  opposition  to  the  Guises — He  is  arrested  at  Orleans, 
brought  to  trial  for  high  treason  and  condemned  to  death — But  is  saved  by 
the  opportune  death  of  Francois  II I— 15 


CHAPTER   II 

Critical  condition  of  France  at  the  accession  of  Charles  IX. — Character  and 
policy  of  Catherine  de'  Medici — The  Triumvirate — Catherine  leans  to  the 
side  of  the  Reformers — The  "  Edict  of  January" — Massacre  of  Vassy — 
Conde  remains  faithful  to  the  Protestant  cause — Beginning  of  the  civil  war 
— The  Protestants,  at  first  successful,  soon  in  a  desperate  position — Conde 
turns  to  England  for  aid  :  Treaty  of  Hampton  Court — Fall  of  Rouen — 
Conde  marches  on  Paris — Battle  ofDreux:  the  prince  taken  prisoner — 
Second  Captivity  of  Conde — Assassination  of  Guise — Conference  on  the 
Ilc-aux-Bceufs — The  maids-of-honour — Peace  of  Amboise — Conde  follows 
the  Court 16-28 


CHAPTER   III 

Catherine  de'  Medici  and  her  "  escadron  volant" — Adroitness  with  which  the 
Queen  employs  the  charms  of  her  maids-of-honour  to  seduce  the  Huguenot 
chief — The  King  of  Navarre  and  la  belle  Rouet — Policy  of  Catherine  after 
the  Peace  of  Amboise — She  determines  to  compromise  Conde  with  his 
foreign  allies  and  the  French  Protestants,  by  encouraging  his  taste  for 
sensual  pleasures — And  selects  for  his  subjugation  her  maid-of-honour  and 
kinswoman  Isabelle  de  Limeuil — Description  of  this  siren — Her  admirers 


x  THE  LOVE-AFFAIRS  OF  THE  CONDES 

PAGEs 

— Her  mercenary  character — Beginning  of  her  liaison  with  the  prince — 
Conde  and  Elizabeth  of  England — Mile,  de  Limeuil,  inspired  by  Catherine, 
seeks  to  persuade  Conde  to  break  with  Elizabeth — Mission  of  d'Alluye  to 
England — Conde  is  induced  to  take  up  arms  against  his  late  allies — Siege 
and  surrender  of  Le  Havre 29-42 


CHAPTER   IV 

Conde  is  disappointed  in  his  hopes  of  obtaining  the  post  of  Lieutenant-General 
of  the  Kingdom — The  prince  incurs  the  hatred  of  the  extreme  Catholics — 
Plot  to  assassinate  him  on  the  Feast  of  Corpus  Christi — Suspicion  with 
which  he  is  regarded  by  the  zealots  of  his  own  party — Conde,  deceived  in 
his  ambition  and  mortified  by  the  hostility  of  the  extremists  on  both  sides, 
turns  to  pleasure  for  consolation — Violent  passion  of  the  Marechale  de 
Saint-Andre  for  him — Indignation  and  alarm  aroused  at  Geneva  by  the 
rumours  of  Conde's  amorous  adventures — Calvin  and  Beze  address  a  joint 
letter  of  remonstrance  to  the  prince — Conde  at  Muret — Death  of  two  of  his 
children— Failing  health  of  the  Princesse  de  Conde — Her  touching  devotion 
to  her  husband — Her  dignified  attitude  in  regard  to  his  infidelities— Return 
of  Conde  to  the  Court— Quarrel  between  him  and  Isabelle  de  Limeuil — 
Temporary  triumph  of  the  Marechale  de  Saint-Andre — Refusal  of  the  King 
to  sanction  the  betrothal  of  the  Marquis  de  Conti  to  Mile,  de  Saint-Andre — 
Conde  quits  the  Court  in  anger,  but  is  reconciled  to  Isabelle  and  returns — 
A  second  honeymoon  . 43~52 


CHAPTER  V 

The  fetes  of  Fontainebleau — Charles  IX.  and  Catherine  set  out  on  a  grand 
progress  through  the  kingdom — Dangerous  illness  of  the  Princesse  de 
Conde — Her  husband  obliged  to  remain  with  her — Scandalous  denoument 
of  the  amours  of  Conde  and  Isabelle  de  Limeuil— Indignation  of  the 
Queen-Mother — Isabelle  and  the  Prince  de  la  Roche-sur-Yon — The  Comte 
de  Maulevrier  accuses  Isabelle  of  having  plotted  to  poison  the  princ  e — She 
is  arrested  and  conducted  to  the  Franciscan  convent  at  Auxonne — Tender 
correspondence  between  her  and  Du  Fresne — Passionate  letters  of  Conde 
to  his  mistress  —Isabelle  denies  the  c  harges  against  her — Her  letter  to 
Catherine — She  is  removed  to  Vienne— Her  despair — Her  pathetic  letters 
to  Conde— She  is  examined  by  the  Bishops  of  Orleans  and  Limoges,  and 
confronted  by  Maulevrier  ........  53-^9 


CHAPTER    VI 

Death  of  the  Princesse  de  Conde— Question  of  the  prince's  remarriage— The 
Marechale  de  Saint- Andre's  bid  for  his  hand — Rumours  of  a  matrimonial 
alliance  with  the  Guises — Catherine  de' Medici,  alarmed  at  such  a  prospect, 
resolves  to  set  Mile,  de  Limeuil  at  liberty — Isa  belle  joins  Conde  at  Valery 
—Intense  indignation  of  the  Huguenots  at  the   scandalous  conduct  of  the 


CONTENTS  xi 

PAGES 

prince — Quarrel  between  Conde  and  Coligny — The  leaders  of  the  party 
take  counsel  together  "  to  find  a  remedy  for  so  great  an  evil  " — The  deputa- 
tion of  Protestant  pastors — Conde  declines  to  separate  from  his  mistress, 
but  eventually  breaks  with  her — His  marriage  with  Mile,  de  Longueville — 
Conde  persuaded  by  his  wife  to  demand  the  return  of  the  presents  he  has 
given  his  mistress — Revenge  of  Isabelle— Her  marriage — Renewal  of  the 
civil  war — Battle  of  Saint-Denis — Peace  of  Longjumeau — Flight  of  Conde 
to  La  Rochelle — Third  War  of  Religion  breaks  out — Battle  of  Jarnac — 
Death  of  Conde 70-91 


CHAPTER  VII 

Henri  I  de  Bourbon,  Prince  de  Conde — His  personal  appearance  and  character 
— Jeanne  d'Albret  presents  Henri  of  Navarre  and  Conde  to  the  army — The 
"  Admiral's  pages  "—The  "  Journey  of  the  Princes  " — Battle  of  Arnay-le- 
Duc — Conde  at  La  Rochelle — Henri  of  Navarre  is  betrothed  to  Marguerite  * 
de  Valois,  and  Conde  to  Marie  de  Cleves — An  awkward  lover — Marriage 
of  Conde— Massacre  of  Saint-Bartholomew — The  King  of  Navarre  and 
Conde  are  ordered  to  abjure  their  religion — Firmness  of  the  latter,  who, 
however,  at  length  yields — -Humiliating  position  of  Conde — Intrigue 
between  his  wife  and  the  Due  d'Anjou — Conde  at  the  siege  of  La  Rochelle 
— Anjou  elected  King  of  Poland — He  offers  the  hand  of  his  discarded 
mistress,  Mile,  de  Chateauneuf,  to  Nantouillet,  provost  of  Paris — Unpleasant 
consequences  of  the  provost's  refusal  of  this  honour     ....        92-107 


CHAPTER  VIII 

Departure  of  Anjou  for  Poland — Conde,  compromised  in  the  conspiracy  of  the 
"Politiques,"  escape  to  Strasbourg,  where  he  reverts  to  the  Protestant 
faith — Death  of  Charles  IX.,  who  is  succeeded  by  the  King  of  Poland — 
Flight  of  the  new  King  from  Cracow — Death  of  the  Princesse  de  Conde  : 
extravagant  grief  of  Henry  III.— Conde  invades  France  at  the  head  of  an 
army  of  German  mercenaries — The  "  Paix  de  Monsieur" — Conde  endeavours 
to  establish  himself  in  the  West  of  France — Formation  of  the  League  and 
renewal  of  the  civil  war — Conde  refuses  the  hand  of  Mile,  de  Vaudemont, 
Henry  III.'s  sister-in-law— His  second  Odyssey — He  commands  the 
Huguenot  forces  in  Poitou  and  Saintonge — He  proposes  for  the  hand  of 
Charlotte  Catherine  de  la  Tremoille— Letter  of  Mile,  de  la  Tremoille 
to  the  prince — He  visits  her  at  the  Chateau  of  Taillebourg — Disastrous 
expedition  of  Conde  against  Angers — He  is  obliged  to  take  refuge  in 
Guernsey 108-124 


CHAPTER   IX 

Loyalty  of  Mile,  de  la  Tremoille  to  Conde — She  prevents  her  mother,  the 
Duchesse  de  Thouars,  from  surrendering  the  Chateau  of  Taillebourg  to  a 
Catholic  force — And  defends  it  gallantly  until  she  is  relieved— She  equips  two 


xii        THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS  OF  THE  CONDES 

I'AGES 

ships-of-war  to  bring  Conde  from  Guernsey — Reunion  of  the  lovers — Their 
marriage — Conde  takes  the  field  again — Financial  embarrassments  of  the 
new  menage — Battle  of  Coutras  :  encounter  between  Conde  and  Saint-Luc 
— Ill-health  of  the  prince — He  returns  to  Saint-Jean-d'Angely — He  is 
suddenly  taken  ill,  and  dies  in  two  days — Violent  grief  of  his  wife — 
Suspicions  of  the  doctors — An  autopsy  is  performed,  and  the  prince  is  de- 
clared to  have  been  poisoned — Letter  of  the  King  of  Navarre  to  the 
Comtesse  de  Gramont — Flight  of  the  princess's  page,  Belcastel,  and  her 
head  valet-de-chambre,  Corbais — Arrest  of  her  intendant,  Brilland — The 
King  of  Navarre  arrives  at  Saint-Jean-d'Angely,  and  orders  the  Princesse 
de  Conde  to  be  placed  under  arrest— Terrible  situation  of  the  princess     125-138 


CHAPTER  X 

The  King  of  Navarre  appoints  a  special  commission  for  the  trial  of  Brilland — 
Brilland  is  put  to  the  question — His  confessions  under  torture  implicate 
the  Princesse  de  Conde,  but  on  the  following  day  he  disavows  them — He 
is  found  guilty  and  condemned  to  be  dismembered  by  horses — The  princess 
denies  the  competency  of  the  court  and  appeals  to  the  Parlement  of  Paris— 
But  the  King  of  Navarre  and  the  commissioners  ignore  the  decrees  of  that 
body — -The  commission  directs  that  the  princess  shall  be  brought  to  trial — ■ 
She  gives  birth  to  a  son — The  prosecution  is  dropped,  but  the  princess  re- 
mains in  captivity — The  President  de  Thou  interests  himself  in  her  case — 
Means  by  which  he  obtains  from  Henri  IV.  the  recognition  of  her  son's 
rights,  and,  with  them,  the  acknowledgment  of  the  princess's  innocence 

139-148 

CHAPTER  XI 

Education  of  Henri  II.  de  Bourbon,  Prince  de  Conde  —  Appearance  and 
character  of  the  young  prince— He  is  offered  and  accepts  the  hand  of 
Charlotte  de  Montmorency,  unaware  that  Henry  IV.  is  desperately  en- 
amoured of  the  lady — Conversation  of  the  King  with  Bassompierre— 
Marriage  of  Conde  and  Mile,  de  Montmorency — Infatuation  of  the  King  for 
the  young  princess — Conde  refuses  to  accept  the  odious  role  assigned  to 
him,  and  "  plays  the  devil  "—Violent  scenes  between  him  and  the  King — He 
removes  with  his  wife  to  Picardy — Amorous  escapade  of  Henri  IV. — Conde, 
summoned  to  Court  for  the  accouchement  of  the  Queen,  leaves  the  princess 
behind  him — Indignation  of  Henri  IV. —  Conde  flies  with  his  wife  to 
Flanders — Fury  of  the  King,  who  sends  troops  in  pursuit  of  the  fugitives — 
Refusal  of  the  Archdukes  to  deliver  them  up — Conde  goes  to  Cologne,  while 
the  princess  proceeds  to  Brussels 149-162 

CHAPTER  XII 

Conde  summoned  by  the  Archdukes  to  Brussels — He  places  himself  under  the 
protection  of  Philip  III.  of  Spain — Mission  of  the  Marquis  de  Cceuvres  to 
Brussels — His   attempted   abduction   of  the   Princesse  de  Conde — Conde 


CONTENTS  xiii 

PAGES 

declared  guilty  of  high  treason — He  leaves  Brussels  for  Milan — Henri  IV. 
and  his  Ministers  threaten  the  Archdukes  with  war  if  the  princess  is  not 
given  up — Despatches  of  the  Spanish  Ambassador  to  his  Court— Conde  at 
Milan — Assassination  of  Henri  IV. — Embarrassing  position  of  Conde  in 
regard  to  Spain — He  returns  to  Brussels,  but  declines  to  see  his  wife — 
His  return  to  France— He  contemplates  the  dissolution  of  his  marriage,  but 
ultimately  consents  to  a  formal  reconciliation  with  the  princess — His  turbu- 
lent conduct  during  the  regency  of  Marie  de'  Medici — His  arrest  and 
imprisonment — The  princess  magnanimously  shares  her  husband's  captivity 
— Dangerous  illness  of  the  prince — Birth  of  Anne  Genevieve  de  Bourbon — 
Release  of  the  Condes 163-178 


CHAPTER  XIII 

Birth  of  Louis  de  Bourbon,  Due  d'Enghien  (the  Great  Conde) — His  early  years 
at  the  Chateau  of  Montrond — His  education— His  personal  appearance  and 
character — Wealth  of  the  Condes — Life  at  Chantilly — Isabelle  de  Boutte- 
ville  and  Marthe  du  Vigean — Tender  attachment  of  the  Due  d'Enghien 
and  Mile,  du  Vigean — Subserviency  of  the  Prince  de  Conde  towards 
Richelieu — He  solicits  for  Enghicn  the  hand  of  the  Cardinal's  niece,  Claire- 
Clemence  de  Maille-Breze — -The  young  prince  protests  against  the  sacrifice 
demanded  of  him,  but  eventually  consents — He  is  presented  to  Mile,  de 
Maille-Breze — First  campaign  of  the  Great  Conde — He  denies  the  rumour 
that  he  has  "no  taste  for  his  fiancee" — Fete  at  the  Palais-Cardinal  :  a 
ludicrous  incident — Marriage  of  the  Due  d'Enghien    ....      179-195 

CHAPTER  XIV 

Serious  illness  of  the  Due  d'Enghien — Tyranny  exercised  over  him  by  Richelieu 
— An  amusing  anecdote — Death  of  the  Cardinal — His  will — Lawsuit  be- 
tween the  Prince  de  Conde  and  the  Duchesse  d'Aiguillon — Enghicn  con- 
templates the  dissolution  of  his  marriage,  neglects  his  wife,  and  devotes 
himself  to  Marthe  du  Vigean — He  receives  the  command  of  the  Army  of 
Flanders,  gains  the  brilliant  victory  of  Rocroi,  and  takes  Thionville — The 
Duchesse  d'Enghien  gives  birth  to  a  son — Indifference  of  the  duke — He 
returns  to  Paris  and  endeavours  to  procure  the  dissolution  of  his  marriage 
— But  this  project  is  frustrated  by  the  interference  of  the  Prince  de  Conde 
■ — Enghien  is  wounded  at  the  battle  of  Ntirdlingen,  and  has  a  dangerous 
attack  of  fever — To  the  astonishment  of  his  friends,  he  suddenly  breaks  off 
his  tender  relations  with  Mile,  du  Vigean — Despair  of  the  lady,  who,  in 
spite  of  the  opposition  of  her  family,  enters  the  Carmelites  of  the  Faubourg 
Saint-Jacques 196-206 


CHAPTER   XV 

Notwithstanding  his  rupture  with  Mile,  du  Vigean,  the  Due  d'Enghien  con- 
tinues to  treat  his  wife  with  coldness — The  heart  of  the  prince  is  fiercely 
disputed  by  the  ladies  of  the  Court— Dissipated  life  of  Enghien  :  paternal 


xiv        THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   CONDES 

TAGES 

remonstrances — Liaison  between  the  duke  and  Ninon  de  l'Enclos — Death 
of  Henri  II  de  Bourbon,  Prince  de  Conde — Failure  of  the  new  Prince  de 
Conde  before  Lerida — His  brilliant  victory  at  Lens — Beginning  of  the 
Fronde — Conde  remains  faithful  to  the  Court,  and  takes  command  of  the 
royal  troops — The  Duchesse  de  Chatillon  becomes  his  mistress — Peace  of 
Rueil — The  arrogance  and  ambition  of  Conde  causes  the  Court  and  the 
Frondeurs  to  join  forces  against  him — The  arrest  of  the  Princes — The 
Princesse  de  Conde  at  Bordeaux — Death  of  the  dowager-princess — Equi- 
vocal conduct  of  Madame  de  Chatillon — Episode  of  an  unaddressed  letter — 
Exile  of  Mazarin  and  release  of  the  Princes — Continued  indifference  of 
Conde  towards  his  wife,  notwithstanding  her  courageous  efforts  on  his 
behalf — Negotiations  between  him  and  the  Regent — His  rupture  with  the 
Frondeurs,  who  draw  towards  the  Court — Conde  retires  to  Saint-Maur — 
Alliance  between  the  Court  and  the  Frondeurs — Proceedings  against 
Conde — The  prince  retires  to  Montrond  and  "draws  the  sword  "       .      207-224 

CHAPTER  XVI 

Conde"  proceeds  to  Bordeaux,  where  he  is  rejoined  by  his  relatives — He  opens 
the  campaign  with  success,  but  is  soon  obliged  to  remain  on  the  defensive 
— Return  of  Mazarin — Conde  on  the  Loire — Battle  of  Bleneau— He  leaves 
his  army  and  proceeds  to  Paris— His  futile  negotiations — Battle  of  the 
Faubourg  Saint-Antoine — Massacre  of  the  Hotel  de  Ville — The  Fronde 
grows  daily  more  discredited — Conde  quits  Paris  and  joins  the  Spaniards 
on  the  Flemish  frontier — The  Fronde  at  Bordeaux — Sanguinary  affrays 
between  the  Ormee  and  the  Chapeau  Rouge — Courage  and  presence  of  mind 
displayed  by  the  Princesse  de  Conde  and  Madame  de  Longueville  in 
separating  the  combatants — Surrender  of  Bordeaux — The  princess  sails  for 
Flanders  to  rejoin  her  husband — -Her  reception  at  Valenciennes — She  is 
cruelly  neglected  by  Conde — She  removes  from  Valenciennes  to  Malines — 
Her  miserable  existence — Conde  applies  to  the  Spanish  Court  for  financial 
assistance — Brilliant  military  qualities  displayed  by  him  in  the  service  of 
his  country's  enemies — The  princess  gives  birth  to  a  daughter — Peace  of  the 
Pyrenees — Return  of  Conde  and  his  wife  to  France    ....      225-234 


CHAPTER  XVII 

Arrival  of  Conde  at  the  Court — His  reception — He  returns  to  Paris — His  in- 
gratitude towards  his  wife — Dignified  behaviour  of  Madame  la  Princesse — 
Affectionate  relations  between  Conde  and  his  son— Indifference  of  the 
young  prince  towards  his  mother — Marriage  of  the  Due  d'Enghien  and 
Anne  of  Bavaria — The  affair  of  Poland — Conde's  conquest  of  Franche- 
Comte — The  mind  of  the  Princesse  de  Conde  becomes  affected — The  foot- 
man Duval — Mysterious  affair  at  the  Hotel  de  Conde  :  the  princess  is 
wounded  in  a  brawl  between  Duval  and  the  Comte  de  Bussy-Rabutin — 
Singular  attitude  of  Monsieur  le  Prince — Trial  of  Duval — Calumnies  against 
the  Princesse  de  Conde:  letter  of  Madame  de  Sevigne  —  The  princess  is 
exiled  to  the  Chateau  of  Chateauroux,  in  Berry — Her  departure  :  a  touching 
scene— Her  captivity — Her  hallucinations — Visit  of  Pere  Tixier         .        235-250 


CONTENTS  xv 

CHAPTER  XVIII 

FACES 

Termination  of  Conde's  military  career — His  retirement  at  Chantilly — His 
improvements  of  the  chateau  and  estate — His  son,  the  Due  d'Enghien 
(Monsieur  le  Due) — Portrait  of  this  prince  by  Saint-Simon — His  tyrannical 
treatment  of  his  wife — His  singular  habits — Malicious  practical  joke  which 
he  perpetrates  on  the  Due  de  Luxembourg — His  amours  with  the  Duchesse 
de  Nevers,  the  Marquise  de  Richelieu,  and  the  Comtesse  de  Marans — His 
natural  daughter  by  Madame  de  Marans  legitimated  and  married  to  the 
Marquis  de  Lassay — His  lack  of  military  capacity — His  children — The 
education  of  his  only  son,  the  Due  de  Bourbon,  superintended  by  Conde — 
Marriage  of  the  young  prince  to  Mile,  de  Nantes,  elder  daughter  of 
Louis  XIV.  and  Madame  de  Montespan — The  wedding-night — Conversion 
of  Conde — His  last  illness — His  death — His  funeral  oration  by  Bossuet 
— The  Princesse  de  Conde  remains  in  captivity — Her  death        .         .      251-268 


CHAPTER  XIX 

Henri-Jules  de  Bourbon,  fifth  Prince  de  Conde — His  affection  for  Chantilly 
— Improvements  which  he  executes  there — The  "  Galerie  des  Batailles  " 
— His  business  capacity— His  relations  with  his  son,  the  Due  de  Bourbon 
(Monsieur  le  Due) — Character  of  this  prince — His  ungovernable  temper 
and  vindictiveness — His  intrigue  with  Madame  de  Mussy — -She  betrays 
him  for  the  Comte  d' Albert — -A  violent  scene — Madame  de  Mussy  follows 
her  new  lover  to  Spain — Her  sad  fate — Other  amours  of  Monsieur  le  Due 
— Character  of  Madame  la  Duehesse — Her  intrigue  with  the  Prince  de 
Conti — Her  grief  at  his  premature  death — Last  years  of  the  Prince  de 
Conde — His  eccentricity  becomes  hardly  distinguishable  from  madness — ■ 
Anecdotes  concerning  him — -His  death — His  last  instructions  to  his  son 
— The  Due  de  Bourbon  retains  his  title,  instead  of  assuming  that  of 
Prince  de  Conde — His  sudden  death,  eleven  months  after  that  of  his 
father 269-280 


CHAPTER  XX 

Louis  Henri  de  Bourbon-Conde— He  assumes  the  title  of  Due  de  Bourbon, 
instead  of  that  of  Prince  de  Conde,  and  is  known  as  Monsieur  le  Due — His 
personal  appearance — He  loses  an  eye  by  a  shooting  accident — I  lis  military 
career — He  becomes  President  of  the  Council  of  Regency  on  the  death  of 
Louis  XIV. — His  protection  of  John  Law — His  wealth — His  character — 
His  marriage  with  Marie  Anne  de  Bourbon-Conti — Singular  intrigue  which 
precedes  it — His  indifference  to  his  wife — -His  amours — The  financier 
Berthelot  de  Pleneuf — Gallantries  of  Madame  de  Pleneuf — Saint-Simon's 
portrait  of  her — Her  daughter,  Agnes  de  Pleneuf — Singular  beauty  and 
intelligence  of  this  young  girl — Violent  jealousy  which  her  mother  con- 
ceives for  her — Marriage  of  Agnes  to  the  Marquis  de  Prie,  who  is  soon 


xvi        THE  LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   CONDES 

PAGES 

afterwards  appointed  Ambassador  at  Turin — Her  life  at  Turin — Disgrace 
and  bankruptcy  of  Berthelot  de  Pleneuf — Financial  straits  of  the  de  Pries 
— Madame  de  Prie  comes  to  Paris  to  intercede  with  the  Government  on 
her  husband's  behalf — Calumnies  concerning  her  spread  by  her  mother  and 
her  partisans — Her  relations  with  the  Regent 281-295 


CHAPTER  XXI 

Origin  of  the  liaison  between  Monsieur  le  Due  and  Madame  de  Prie  considered 
— Extraordinary  ascendency  which  the  latter  acquires  over  her  lover — 
For  a  while,  the  favourite  leads  a  life  of  pleasure,  but  is  soon  obliged 
to  give  her  attention  to  politics — Exasperation  of  Madame  de  Pleneufs 
coterie  against  her— Insecurity  of  Monsieur  le  Due's  position — The 
Orleans  faction — Intrigues  of  the  War  Minister  Le  Blanc  and  the  Belle- 
Isles — Hatred  of  Madame  de  Prie  for  Le  Blanc — She  resolves  to  crush 
the  common  enemies  of  herself  and  Monsieur  le  Due — Her  skilful  conduct 
— Murder  of  Sandrier  de  Mitry,  chief  cashier  of  La  Jonchere,  treasurer 
of  the  Emergency  War  Fund — Sinister  suspicions  concerning  La  Jonchere 
and  Le  Blanc— Madame  de  Prie  determines  to  get  to  the  bottom  of  the 
mystery — Her  alliance  with  the  Paris  brothers  against  the  War  Minister 
— Dubois  persuades  the  Regent  to  withdraw  his  protection  from  Le  Blanc 
— Arrest  of  La  Jonchere  and  examination  of  his  accounts — Disgrace  and 
exile  of  Le  Blanc — The  death  of  Dubois  puts  a  stop  to  the  proceedings 
— Death  of  Philippe  d'Orleans — Monsieur  le  Due  becomes  Prime  Minister 

296-313 


CHAPTER  XXII 

Beginning  of  the  Ministry  of  Monsieur  le  Due — His  early  popularity — Diffi- 
culties of  the  situation — Thilippe  d'Orleans  replaced  by  three  new 
powers  :  Louis  XV.,  Fleury,  and  Philip  V.  of  Spain — Futile  negotia- 
tions between  Monsieur  le  Due  and  the  Orleans  faction — Madame  de 
Prie  advises  the  prince  to  take  the  offensive — Resumption  of  the  pro- 
ceedings against  La  Jonchere  and  his  accomplices — Indignation  and 
alarm  of  the  Orleanists — Attempted  assassination  of  La  Guilloniere,  in 
mistake  for  Paris-Duverney — Conspiracy  against  the  lives  of  Monsieur  le 
Due  and  his  mistress — Madame  de  Prie  insists  on  prompt  and  energetic 
action,  and  Le  Blanc  and  the  Belle-Isles  are  thrown  into  the  Bastille — 
Arrest  of  Lempereur  and  other  persons — The  Government  is  determined 
on  the  total  ruin  of  Le  Blanc — Murder  of  Gazan  de  la  Combe — La  Blanc 
claims  the  privilege  of  being  tried  by  the  assembled  chambers  of  the 
Parlement — Efforts  of  Monsieur  le  Due  and  Madame  de  Prie  to  counteract 
the  influence  of  Fleury  over  Louis  XV. — Recall  of  Villeroy — Visit  of  the 
King  to  Chantilly — Trial  of  Le  Blanc — Extraordinary  proceedings — 
Acquittal  of  the  accused      .........      314- 


CONTENTS  xvii 

CHAPTER   XXIII 

PAGES 

Monsieur  le  Due  and  Madame  de  Prie  determine  to  break  off  the  marriage 
of  Louis  XV.  and  the  Infanta,  and  to  marry  the  young  King  to  a 
princess  capable  of  at  once  giving  him  an  heir — Double  interest  of  the 
favourite  in  the  accomplishment  of  this  design — Question  of  the  remarriage 
of  Monsieur  le  Due — Madame  de  Prie,  unable  to  oppose  this,  selects  Marie 
Leczinska — Rupture  of  the  Spanish  marriage— Exasperation  of  the  Court 
of  Madrid— Difficulty  of  finding  a  suitable  consort  for  Louis  XV. — 
Madame  de  Prie  accused  of  having  barred  the  way  of  Mile,  de  Ver- 
mandois  to  the  crown  matrimonial — The  favourite  advocates  the  claims 
of  Marie  Leczinska,  who  is  eventually  chosen — Triumph  of  Madame  de 
Prie — Arrival  of  the  new  Queen — A  model  husband — Growing  unpopu- 
larity of  the  Government  and  increasing  influence  of  Fleury — An  unsuc- 
cessful intrigue —  Madame  de  Prie  retires  from  Court,  but  Monsieur  le  Due 
insists  on  her  return — Disgrace  of  Monsieur  le  Due — His  mother  and  his 
mistress  follow  him  to  Chantilly — Madame  de  Prie  is  exiled  to  Normandy 
— A  touching  farewell — Chivalrous  behaviour  of  the  prince — Death  of 
Madame  de  Prie— Remarriage  of  Monsieur  le  Due — His  death  .         .      332-350 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

Agnes.  Berthelot  de  Pleneuf,  Marquise  de  Prie        .        .         Frontispiece 

From  a  Painting  by  an  unknown  artist,  in  the  collection  of  M.  de 
Quatrebarbes 

By  permission  of  MM.  Plon  Nourrit 

FACING 
PAGE 

Louis  I.  de  Bourbon,  Prince  de  Conde 26 

From  an  Engraving  after  a  Drawing  by  JANET 

Eleonore  de  Roye,  Princesse  de  Conde 72 

From  a  Drawing  by  an  unknown  artist 

Henri  I.  de  Bourbon,  Prince  de  Conde 102 

From  an  Engraving  by  Delpech,  after  the  Painting  by  Mauzaisse 

Charlotte  Catherine  de  la  Tremoille,  Princesse  de  Conde  .        .    134 
From  an  Engraving  by  Miger,  after  the  Painting  by  Le  Monnier 

Henri  II.  de  Bourbon,  Prince  de  Conde 164 

From  an  Engraving  by  Mathonier 

Louis  II.  de  Bourbon,  Prince  de  Conde  (the  Great  Condk)    .        .     182 
From  an  Engraving  by  Jacques  Lubin 

Claire  Clemence  de  Maille-Breze,  Princesse  de  Conde  .        .        .198 
From  an  Engraving  by  Moncornet 

Ninon  de  L'Enclos 210 

From  a  Miniature  in  the  South  Kensington  Museum 

Anne  of  Bavaria,   Duchesse  d'Enqhien  (afterwards  Princesse  de 

Conde) 238 

From  an  Engraving  by  Moncornet 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS  xix 

FACING 
PAGE 

Henri  Jules  de  Bourbon,  Due  d'Enohien  (afterwards  Prince  de 
Conde) 252 

From  an  Engraving  by  Poillv,  after  the  Painting  by  Mignard 

Diane  Gabrielle  de  Thianges,  Duchesse  de  Nevers  ....    254 
From  a  Contemporary  Print 

Louis  III.,  Due  de  Bourbon,  Prince  de  Conde  (called  Monsieur 

LE  DUC) 264 

From  a  Contemporary  Print 

Louise    Francoise,    Duchesse    de    Bourbon    (called    Madame    la 
Duchesse) 276 

From  a  Contemporary  Print 

Louis     Henri,    Due     de     Bourbon,    Prince     de     Conde     (called 

Monsieur  le  Due)        .  300 

From  an  Engraving  by  P.  Drevet,  after  the  Painting  by  Gobert 

Andre  Hercule,  Cardinal  de  Fleury 316 

From  an  Engraving  by  DREVET,  after  the  Painting  by  HYACINTHE 
Rigaud 

Claude  Le  Blanc        330 

From  an  Engraving  by  Drevet,  after  the  Painting  by  Le  Prieur 


THE 
LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   CONDES 

CHAPTER   I 

Origin  of  the  House  of  Conde* — Louis  de  Bourbon,  first  prince  of  the 
name — His  modest  debut  at  the  Court — His  personal  appearance  and 
character — Enmity  between  the  Bourbons  and  the  Guises — Conde"  attaches 
himself  to  the  party  of  the  Connetable  Anne  de  Montmorency,  and  marries 
the  latter's  niece,  Ele*onore  de  Roye  —  Noble  character  of  FJe*onore  — 
Gallantries  of  Conde* — His  early  military  career — Death  of  Henry  II. — 
Progress  of  the  Reformation  in  France — Conde*  embraces  Protestantism  and 
places  himself  at  the  head  of  the  opposition  to  the  Guises — He  is  arrested 
at  Orleans,  brought  to  trial  for  high  treason  and  condemned  to  death — But 
is  saved  by  the  opportune  death  of  Francois  1 1. 

THE  Conctes  and  the  Bourbons  have  a  common  origin. 
Both  families  descend  from  Robert  de  France, 
Comte  de  Clermont,  youngest  son  of  St.  Louis. 
An  ancient  barony,  the  inheritance  of  that  prince's  wife,  was 
erected  into  a  dukedom  in  favour  of  Louis,  his  son,  and  gave 
to  his  descendants  the  name  which  they  have  retained,  that 
of  France  being  reserved  for  the  royal  branch. 

After  the  death,  without  issue,  of  the  Connetable  de  Bourbon 
at  the  assault  of  Rome  in  May  1 5  27,  his  brother,  Charles,  Due 
de  Vendome,  became  first  Prince  of  the  Blood,  though,  owing  to 
the  profound  mistrust  with  which  Francois  I.  now  regarded  the 
Bourbons,  he  never  acquired  either  the  authority  or  influence 
that  so  high  a  position  ought  to  have  given  him.  Nor  did  he 
succeed  in  recovering  any  of  the  vast  possessions  of  the  Constable, 
which  were  definitely  alienated  from  his  House,  and,  on  his 
death  in  1538,  he  left  but  a  scanty  fortune.     This  was  the  more 

B  I 


2  THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   CONDfiS 

regrettable,  since  his  wife,  Franchise  d'Alencon,  had  borne  him 
no  less  than  thirteen  children :  seven  sons  and  six  daughters. 
Of  the  daughters,  four  entered  religion ;  one  died  unmarried, 
and  the  last  became  the  wife  of  Francois  de  Cleves,  Due  de 
Nevers.  Of  the  sons,  five  lived  to  attain  their  majority,  though 
only  one  survived  middle-age  and  died  a  natural  death,  and  he 
was  in  holy  orders.     They  were : 

i.  Antoine,  Due  de  Vendome,  born  22  April,  1518  ;  became, 
through  his  marriage  with  Jeanne  d'Albret,  King  of  Navarre ; 
died  17  November,  1562,  from  the  effects  of  a  wound  received 
at  the  siege  of  Rouen. 

2.  Francois,  Comte  d'Enghien,  born  23  September,  15 19; 
commanded  the  French  army  in  the  great  victory  of  Ceresole, 
14  April,  1544  ;  died  23  February,  1546,  from  the  result  of  what 
was  probably  an  accident,  but  was  by  many  attributed  to 
deliberate  intent.1 

3.  Charles,  Cardinal  de  Bourbon  ("  le  cardinal  des  bouteilles  "), 
who  was  proclaimed  King  of  France  by  the  League  after  the 
death  of  Henri  III.)  ;  born  22  December,  1523 ;  died  9  May, 
1590. 

4.  Jean,  Comte  de  Soissons,  and,  after  the  death  of  his 
brother  Frangois,  Comte  d'Enghien  ;  born  6  July,  1526  ;  killed 
at  the  battle  of  Saint-Quentin,  15  August,  1557. 


1  The  Court  was  staying  at  the  Chateau  of  la  Roche-Guyon,  not  far  from  Mantes. 
As  there  had  been  a  heavy  fall  of  snow,  Francois  I.  suggested  that  the  younger 
members  of  the  Court  should  organize  a  snowball-fight.  Sides  were  accordingly 
formed  ;  one  led  by  the  Dauphin  and  Francois  de  Lorraine,  afterwards  Due  de  Guise, 
defending  a  house ;  the  other,  led  by  Enghien,  besieging  it.  "  During  the  combat,"  says 
Martin  du  Bellay,  "  some  ill-advised  person  threw  a  linen-chest  out  of  the  window, 
which  fell  on  the  Sieur  d'Enghien's  head,  and  inflicted  such  injuries  that  he  died  a 
few  days  later."  Du  Bellay  does  not  give  the  name  of  the  "  ill-advised  person,"  but 
certain  writers,  less  reticent,  name  Francois  de  Guise,  and  have  even  gone  so  far  as 
to  assert  that  he  acted  by  orders  of  the  Dauphin,  who  was  jealous  of  Enghien's 
military  fame,  while  others  say  that  he  was  a  certain  Conte  di  Bentivoglio,  an  Italian 
noble  in  the  service  of  the  Guises,  whom  they  accuse  of  having  instigated  the  deed. 
It  is  probable,  however,  that  the  death  of  Enghien  was  due  merely  to  one  of  those 
acts  of  brutal  horse-play  so  common  at  this  epoch,  and  that  the  culprit,  whoever  he 
may  have  been,  was  innocent  of  any  homicidal  intention.  See  on  this  matter  the 
author's  "Henri  II.:  his  Court  and  Times"  (London,  Methuen  ;  New  York, 
Scribner,  1910). 


LOUIS   I.,   PRINCE   DE  CONDfe  3 

;.  Louis,  Prince  de  Cond6,  born  at  the  Chateau  of  Vendome, 
7  May,  1530  ;  killed  at  the  battle  of  Jarnac,  13  March,  1569. 

Two  of  these  princes  married  and  founded  families : 
Antoine,  who  was  the  father  of  Henri  IV.,  and  the  ancestor  of 
all  the  Bourbons  now  living,  and  Louis,  who  was  the  root  of 
the  House  of  Conde  and  all  its  branches. 

Louis,  the  youngest  brother,  was  only  in  his  eighth  year  at 
the  time  of  his  father's  death.  Of  his  boyhood  nothing  whatever 
is  known,  though,  as  his  widowed  mother,  who  lived  in  strict 
retirement,  was  scarcely  the  person  best  fitted  to  superintend 
that  chivalrous  education  which  was  deemed  indispensable  for  a 
lad  of  high  birth,  it  is  probable  that  he  was  brought  up  by  his 
brother-in-law,  the  Due  de  Nevers,  or  some  other  male  relative. 
The  earliest  recorded  mention  of  him  occurs  in  the  Domestic 
Roll  of  Henri  II.  for  the  year  1549,  where  he  appears  under  the 
name  of  "  Louis  Mr  de  Vendome,  gentleman  of  the  chamber  to 
the  King,  at  a  salary  of  1200  livres." 

The  precise  time  and  occasion  of  his  assuming  the  title 
which  he  and  his  descendants  were  to  render  so  illustrious  are 
likewise  involved  in  obscurity.  The  Due  d'Aumale  asserts 
that  the  earliest  official  document  in  which  it  is  given,  is  in  the 
proch-verbal  of  the  Bed  of  Justice  held  on  15  January,  1557  ; x 
but  since  the  duke  wrote  it  has  been  discovered  that  he  is  thus 
qualified  in  at  least  half-a-dozen  other  deeds  previous  to  that  date, 
the  earliest  being  an  acte  seigneurial  of  30  March,  1553  ;  while 
Henri  II.,  in  a  letter  to  the  Due  de  Nevers  written  on  12  June, 
1554,  refers  to  the  duke's  youngest  brother-in-law  as  "My 
cousin,  the  Prince  de  Conde."  2 

Equal  uncertainty  prevails  as  to  whether  he  derived  the  title 
from  Cond6-sur-l'Escaut  or  Conde'-en-Brie,  both  of  which  lord- 
ships seem  to  have  been  owned  by  his  father,  Charles,  Due  de 
Vendome.  "  The  best  known  of  the  chroniclers  of  the  family, 
Desormeaux,"  observes  the  Due  d'Aumale,  "declares  it  to  be 
beyond  all  doubt  that  the  first  prince  derived  his  name  from 

1  "  Histoire  des  Princes  de  Conde." 

2  Comte  Jules  Delaborde,    "  £leonore  de    Roye,  Trincesse  de  Conde,   1535 
1564." 


4  THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS  OF  THE  CONDES 

Conde'-en-Brie.  Indeed,  in  the  marriage-contract  of  Louis  I., 
the  lordship  of  Conde-en-Brie  appears  in  the  list  of  the  prince's 
possessions.  He  owned  a  chateau  there,  at  which  he  often 
resided,  and  executed  various  deeds,  whereas  there  is  no  official 
document  relating  to  him  known  to  exist  in  which  any  mention 
is  made  of  Conde-sur-1'Escaut.  But  another  historian  of  the 
family,  l'Hullier,  who,  though  a  tedious  and  very  dull  writer, 
has  left  in  MS.  many  historical  and  genealogical  memoirs,  of 
which  Desormeaux  has  often  made  use,  declares  himself  in 
favour  of  Conde-sur-1'Escaut ;  and  the  Convention  appeared  to 
be  of  the  same  opinion,  by  its  naming  that  place  "  Nord-libre." 
The  illustrious  author  modestly  "  leaves  to  more  learned 
historians  the  task  of  solving  the  question,"  but  the  majority 
of  modern  writers  are  inclined  to  favour  the  claims  of  Conde- 
sur-1'Escaut,  though,  apparently,  for  no  better  reason  than 
because  it  is  the  more  important  of  the  two  places. 

Few  Princes  of  the  Blood  have  made  a  more  modest  dibut  at 
the  Court  of  France  than  the  first  of  the  Condes.  Since  the 
treason  of  the  Conn£table  de  Bourbon  his  family  had  fallen  into 
a  sort  of  discredit,  and,  though,  in  the  last  years  of  the  previous 
reign,  the  partiality  shown  by  Francois  I.  for  the  young  Comte 
d'Enghien  had  seemed  a  promise  of  returning  favour,  the 
untimely  death  of  the  count,  followed  by  that  of  the  King,  soon 
dissipated  their  hopes.  When  the  head  of  the  house,  Antoine, 
Due  de  Vendome,  was  hard  put  to  maintain  a  position  in 
accordance  with  his  rank,  there  was  little  enough  for  his  younger 
brothers  ;  and  Louis  de  Bourbon  made  his  appearance  at  Court 
so  quietly  dressed  and  with  so  modest  a  suite  as  to  provoke  no 
small  merriment  at  his  expense  among  the  gorgeous  butterflies 
of  both  sexes  who  adorned  the  salons  of  the  Louvre  and  the 
gallery  of  the  Tournelles. 

Nor  was  there  anything  in  the  personal  appearance  of  this 
youth  of  nineteen  to  suggest  the  great  part  that  he  was  to  play 
in  after  years.  Unlike  his  ancestors,  who  had  been  tall  men  of 
imposing  presence,  he  was  short  and  slightly  built,  and  some 
anecdote-mongers  even  represent  him  as  hump-backed.  Admit- 
ting   however,  that   he  may  have   been   round-shouldered,  the 


LOUIS   I.,  PRINCE  DE  CONDfe  5 

imputation  of  actual  deformity  is  scarcely  reconcilable  with  the 
well-known  popular  song  concerning  him  : 

"Ce  petit  homme  tant  jolly, 
Qui  toujours  cause  et  toujours  ry 
Et  toujours  baise  sa  mignonne, 
Dieu  gard'  de  mal  le  petit  homme." 

Moreover,  if  somewhat  diminutive  in  stature,  he  was  "  nim- 
ble and  vigorous,  and  as  adroit  at  martial  exercises,  both  on  foot 
and  on  horseback,  as  any  man  in  France." *  His  features,  too, 
were  pleasing  without  being  regular,  and  illuminated  by  a  pair 
of  very  bright  eyes;  he  had  excellent  natural  abilities,  and 
had  not  neglected  to  cultivate  them,  being  exceptionally  well- 
informed  and  a  good  conversationalist,  with  a  touch  of  sarcasm, 
which,  however,  his  good-humour  deprived  of  its  sting,  and 
"  agreeable,  accessible,  and  amiable."  2 

The  young  prince  was,  therefore,  not  without  qualifications 
to  ensure  advancement  at  Court,  but  in  the  two  most  essential 
— wealth  and  influence — he  was  conspicuously  lacking.  The 
absence  of  the  first  might  have  mattered  little  had  he  possessed 
the  second,  but  the  cloud  under  which  the  Bourbons  had  lain 
for  a  quarter  of  a  century  showed  no  sign  of  lifting.  Henri  II., 
who  had  ascended  the  throne  two  years  before  Conde's  arrival 
at  Court,  was  a  well-meaning  man,  who  sincerely  desired  to 
do  his  duty  and  promote  the  interests  of  his  subjects,  but  he 
was  "  born  to  be  governed,  rather  than  to  govern,"  3  and  was 
surrounded  by  ambitious  and  greedy  favourites,  who  thought 
only  of  exploiting  him  for  their  own  selfish  ends.  In  the  early 
days  of  the  new  reign,  the  favour  of  the  King  had  been  divided 
between  his  mature  mistress,  Diane  de  Poitiers,  Duchesse  de 
Valentinois,  and  his  old  friend,  the  Connetable  Anne  de 
Montmorency,  who,  disgraced  by  Frangois  I.  in  1543,  had,  on 
the  death  of  that  monarch,  been  recalled  to  Court  and  entrusted 
with  the  direction  of  affairs.  Diane,  however,  jealous  of  the 
influence  of  the  Constable,  formed  an  alliance  with  the  Guises, 
those  able  and  ambitious  Lorraine  princes  who  were  to  play  so 
conspicuous  a  part  in  all  the  troubles  of  the  latter  half  of  the 

1  Brantome.  a  Ibid.  l  Beaucaire. 


6  THE  LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE  COND&S 

sixteenth  century ;  Francois  de  Lorraine,  who  succeeded  his 
father  as  Due  de  Guise  in  the  spring  of  1550,  and  his  brother, 
Charles,  the  second  Cardinal  de  Lorraine,  became  two  of  the 
King's  most  trusted  advisers ;  and  they  and  their  younger 
brothers  were  loaded  with  honours  and  benefits.  Henri  II.'s 
favourites  stood  like  a  bodyguard  around  the  throne  to  prevent 
any  one  else  approaching  it  ;  their  greed  was  insatiable ; 
"  estates,  dignities,  bishoprics,  abbeys,  offices,  no  more  escaped 
them  than  do  the  flies  the  swallow  ;  there  was  not  a  choice 
morsel  that  was  not  snapped  up  in  a  moment."  x 

For  the  Bourbons  to  have  attempted  to  break  through  this 
bodyguard  and  insinuate  themselves  into  the  good  graces  of 
their  Sovereign  would  have  been  a  hopeless  task  ;  and  they  soon 
recognized  that  their  only  chance  of  bettering  their  fallen  for- 
tunes was  to  follow  the  example  of  the  other  courtiers  and 
attach  themselves  to  one  or  other  of  the  favourites  who 
governed  the  King,  in  the  hope  that  some  scraps  of  the  royal 
bounty  might  be  passed  on  to  them.  From  the  party  of 
Diane  de  Poitiers  and  the  Guises  they  had  nothing  to  expect, 
for,  though  the  two  families  were  closely  connected,2  their  re- 
lations were  exceedingly  strained.  In  both  Court  and  camp 
their  paths  crossed ;  and  the  sinister  rumours  to  which  the 
death  of  the  young  victor  of  Ceresole  had  given  rise  is  an 
eloquent  testimony  to  the  jealousy  which  existed  between  them. 
Since  the  death  of  Francois  I.,  who  had  regarded  the  Guises 
with  profound  mistrust,  and  in  his  last  hours  had  warned  his  son 
to  be  on  his  guard  against  them,  since  "  their  aim  was  to  strip 
him  to  his  doublet,  and  his  people  to  their  shirts,"  3  the 
Lorraines  had  plainly  shown  their  determination  to  keep  the 
Bourbons  in  the  background,  and  not  content  with  enjoying 
the  privileges  of  foreign  princes,  had  profited  by  the  impotence 
of  their  kinsmen  to  usurp  those  of  the  Princes  of  the  Blood. 

Policy  and  inclination  therefore  both  prompted  the  Bourbons 

1  Vincent  Carloix,  "  Memoires  sur  le  mare'chal  de  Vieilleville." 

2  Antoinette  de  Bourbon,  sister  to  Charles  de  Bourbon,  Due  de  Vendome, 
Conde's  father,  had  married  Claude  de  Lorraine,  Due  de  Guise,  and  was  the  mother 
of  Due  Francois  dc  Guise  and  his  brothers. 

J  De  Thou. 


MARRIAGE   OF   CONDE  7 

to  attach  themselves  to  the  opposition,  or  Montmorency  faction. 
This  party,  though  it  attracted  to  its  ranks  fewer  of  the  Court 
nobility  than  did  that  of  the  Duchesse  de  Valentinois  and  the 
Guises,  was  supported  by  the  bulk  of  the  provincial  noblesse, 
and  Montmorency's  great  wealth  and  official  position — he  was 
Grand  Master  of  the  King's  Household  as  well  as  Constable 
of  France — enabled  him  to  dispense  extensive  patronage.  He 
had  five  sons  and  seven  daughters,  besides  numerous  nephews 
and  nieces,  and  he  did  his  duty  nobly  by  them  all,  and  allowed 
no  opportunity  to  pass  of  advancing  the  importance  of  his 
family  and  enriching  his  relatives  and  friends.  Conde,  more 
ambitious  than  his  brothers,  determined  to  establish  claims  on 
the  great  man's  favour  which  it  would  be  difficult  for  him  to 
overlook,  and,  towards  the  end  of  the  year  1550,  demanded  in 
marriage  the  hand  of  £leonore  de  Roye,  eldest  daughter  and 
heiress  of  Charles,  Seigneur  de  Roye  and  de  Muret,  Comte  de 
Roncy,  an  alliance  which  would  unite  him  with  the  two  great 
Houses  of  Montmorency  and  Chatillon.  For  Eleonore  de 
Roye's  mother,  Madeleine  de  Mailly,  was  the  daughter  of 
Louise  de  Montmorency,  sister  of  the  Constable  ;  l  and  Louise 
de  Montmorency,  by  her  second  marriage  with  the  Marechal  de 
Chatillon,  was  the  mother  of  the  future  Admiral,  Gaspard  de 
Coligny,  and  of  his  two  brothers,  Odet,  Cardinal  de  Chatillon, 
and  Francois,  Seigneur  d'Andelot. 

The  consent  of  the  young  lady's  parents  was  readily  given. 
They  could  not,  indeed,  fail  to  be  flattered  by  such  a  proposal 
from  a  Prince  of  the  Blood,  besides  which  they  felt  that  this 
young  man,  frank,  brave,  chivalrous,  and  amiable,  was  a  husband 
of  whom  any  girl  might  well  be  proud,  and  ought  to  have  a 
brilliant  future  before  him.  It  is  possible  that  the  rumours  of 
their  prospective  son-in-law's  addiction  to  feminine  society 
which  had  reached  them  may  have  occasioned  them  some  mis- 
givings ;  but  Gaspard  de  Coligny,  who  had  negotiated  the  affair, 
assured  them  that  marriage  would  change  all  that,  and  that  he 
had  no  doubt  that,  once  in  possession  of  the  prince's  affections, 
£leonore  would  be  able  to  fix  them  permanently.     This,  in  view 

1  By  her  marriage  with  Fery  II.  de  Mailly,  Baron  de  Conty. 


8  THE  LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE  COND&S 

of  what  we  shall  presently  relate,  seems  a  decidedly  bold  assertion ; 
but  then  Coligny,  the  most  faithful  of  husbands,  was  generously 
inclined  to  judge  others  by  himself;  while  the  political  advan- 
tages of  a  match  which  would  unite  the  Houses  of  Montmorency, 
Bourbon  and  Chatillon,  and  counterbalance  the  exorbitant  credit 
of  the  Guises,  may  well  have  disposed  him  to  regard  the  young 
prince's  gallantries  with  a  lenient  eye. 

After  being  accepted  by  the  Comte  and  Comtesse  de  Roye, 
the  project  was  submitted  to  the  Constable,  who  was  graciously 
pleased  to  approve  of  it,  and  promised  to  obtain  the  sanction  of 
the  King.  This  proved  far  from  an  easy  task,  as  Diane  de 
Poitiers  and  the  Guises  did  everything  possible  to  persuade  his 
Majesty  to  refuse  his  consent ;  but,  in  the  end,  Montmorency 
triumphed  over  their  opposition,  and  on  June  22,  1 551,  the 
marriage  was  celebrated  at  the  Chateau  of  Plessis-les-Roye,  by 
the  Cardinal  de  Bourbon,  the  bridegroom's  uncle. 

This  marriage  added  little  to  Conde's  fortune,  but  it  brought 
him  "an  inexhaustible  treasure  of  affection  and  devotion."  "If 
ever,  in  fact,"  writes  an  enthusiastic  biographer,  "  a  young  girl, 
pure  and  loving,  entered  married  life  with  the  energetic  resolution 
to  consecrate  all  the  living  forces  of  her  soul  to  the  practice  of 
the  most  holy  duties,  and  raised  herself  by  her  piety  and  her 
virtues,  by  the  generosity  of  her  soul  and  the  heroism  of  her 
character,  to  the  rank  of  a  femme  d 'elite,  it  was  this  incomparable 
Eleonore  de  Roye,  who,  from  the  day  of  her  union  with  Louis 
de  Bourbon,  became  for  this  prince,  and  remained  up  to  the  day 
when  she  succumbed  prematurely  to  the  cruel  attacks  of  disease, 
a  tender  and  submissive  companion,  a  faithful  friend,  an  immov- 
able support  in  time  of  trial."  * 

Amidst  that  band  of  noble  Huguenot  ladies,  who  in  the  evil 
days  to  come  so  bravely  upheld  their  persecuted  faith  against 
the  overwhelming  forces  arrayed  against  it,  and  inspired  their 
disheartened  co-religionists  with  fresh  energy  and  enthusiasm  to 
maintain  the  unequal  struggle,  there  is  no  nobler  figure  than 
that  of  Eleonore  de  Roye.  Less  capable,  less  ambitious,  than 
Jeanne   d'Albret,   she   is    infinitely   more    attractive,    for    she 

1  Comte  Jules  Delaborde,  "feleonore  de  Roye,  Princesse  deConde." 


MARRIAGE  OF  COND&  9 

possessed  a  boundless  fund  of  sympathy,  an  exquisite  tact,  and 
a  charity  which  was  but  too  seldom  found  among  the  leaders  of 
"the  Religion." 

Catholic  as  well  as  Protestant  writers  bear  homage  to  the 
charms  and  virtues  of  this  admirable  woman.  "  She  was  a  lady 
of  much  intelligence,  of  heroic  courage,  and  of  an  admirable 
chastity,"  says  De  Thou  ;  Le  Laboureur,  while  describing  her  as 
"  a  very  obstinate  Huguenot,"  admits  that  she  was  "  beautiful 
and  very  virtuous "  ; *  while  D£sormeaux  declares  that  she 
yielded  to  none  of  her  sex  in  beauty,  in  grace,  in  intelligence  and 
in  chastity,  and  that  she  "  surpassed  every  one  in  knowledge,  in 
courage,  and  in  magnanimity."  2 

Conde  could  not  be  indifferent  to  the  devotion  of  such  a 
woman,  and  there  can  be  no  doubt  that,  for  a  long  time,  he 
reciprocated  her  affection  and  that  he  always  entertained  for  her 
a  sincere  regard.  Nevertheless,  his  marriage  did  little  to  subdue 
his  taste  for  gallantry,  and  his  attentions  to  the  light  beauties  of 
the  Court  must  often  have  caused  her  the  keenest  pain.  "  The 
good  prince,"  observes  Brantdme,  "  was  as  worldly  as  his  neigh- 
bour and  loved  other  people's  wives  as  much  as  his  own,  par- 
taking largely  of  the  nature  of  the  Bourbons,  who  have  always 
been  of  a  very  amorous  complexion." 

If,  however,  Conde  shared  his  family's  weakness  for  the  fair 
sex,  he  shared  also  its  taste  for  a  military  career,  and,  for  some 
years  after  his  marriage,  it  was  the  camp  rather  than  the  Court 
which  claimed  the  greater  part  of  his  time.  The  long  and  bitter 
struggle  between  the  Houses  of  France  and  Austria,  closed  for 
a  time  by  the  Peace  of  Crepy,  broke  out  afresh  in  the  early 
summer  of  1 55 1,  in  Italy,  where  Henry  II.  and  Charles  V., 
though  still  nominally  at  peace,  intervened  in  the  dispute 
between  Pope  Julius  III.  and  his  vassal  Ottavio  Farnese,  Duke 
of  Parma.  Cond£,  though  only  a  few  days  married,  at  once 
demanded  and  obtained  permission  to  serve  as  a  volunteer  in  the 
Army  of  Italy,  commanded  by  the  Marechal  de  Brissac,  and  set 
out  for  Piedmont. 

1  "Additions  aux  Memoires  de  Castelnau." 

2  •'  Histoire  de  la  Maison  de  Bourbon." 


io         THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF   THE  COND&S 

When  Louis  Joseph  de  Bourbon,  Prince  de  Conde,  went  to 
the  wars,  two  centuries  later,  he  took  with  him  an  immense 
retinue  of  servants,  and  a  long  procession  of  carts  and  carriages, 
to  transport  which  over  two  hundred  horses  were  required  ;  l 
while  a  whole  regiment  had  to  be  detached  for  the  protection  of 
his  precious  person.  His  ancestor  must  have  started  on  his  first 
campaign  in  very  different  fashion  ;  indeed,  there  was  probably 
little  to  distinguish  him  from  the  crowd  of  gentlemen  volunteers 
whom  the  prospect  of  some  hard  fighting  had  drawn  across  the 
Alps ;  and  he  evidently  did  not  disdain  to  perform  the  work  of 
the  humblest  soldier,  since  we  hear  of  him  toiling  for  two  whole 
nights  at  the  task  of  dragging  the  guns  up  the  steep  heights 
which  commanded  the  Castle  of  Lantz.  At  the  conclusion  of 
the  campaign,  in  which  he  had  given  abundant  proof  that  he 
possessed  all  the  courage  of  his  race,  although  his  general  had 
found  him  "a  little  difficult  to  manage,"  he  reappeared  for  a 
brief  interval  at  Court,  and  then,  in  the  spring  of  1552,  took  part 
in  the  "Austrasian  expedition,"  that  military  promenade  through 
the  Rhine  country  which  gave  to  France,  almost  without  striking 
a  blow,  Metz,  Toul,  and  Verdun. 

In  the  autumn  of  the  same  year,  when  Charles  V.,  freed  from 
his  Germanic  embarrassments  by  the  agreement  of  Passau, 
laid  siege  to  Metz,  Conde  and  his  brother,  the  second  Comte 
d'Enghien,  were  among  the  young  nobles  who  received  per- 
mission "  to  take  their  pleasure  at  the  siege."  The  two  Bourbon 
princes  were  entrusted  with  the  defence  of  a  part  of  the  ramparts, 
and  acquitted  themselves  with  courage  and  capacity. 

The  summer  of  1553  found  Conde  in  Picardy,  sharing  with 
the  Due  de  Nemours  the  command  of  the  light  cavalry.  In  an 
engagement  with  the  Imperialist  cavalry  at  Doullens,  he  brought 
up  four  squadrons  at  a  critical  moment,  and,  by  a  brilliant 
charge  on  the  enemy's  flank,  decided  the  day.  In  the  following 
year,  he  commanded  the  light  cavalry  on  the  Meuse  and  dis- 
tinguished himself  at  the  combat  at  Renty,  and  in  1555  he 
returned  to  the  Army  of  Italy,  in  which  he  rendered  excellent 
service  on  several  occasions,  notably  at  the  siege  of  Vulpiano. 
1  "  Mcmoires  du  Due  dc  Luynes." 


cond£  AT  SAINT-QUENTIN  ii 

But  the  enmity  of  the  Guises  barred  the  way  to  the  royal 
favour,  and  when,  in  1556,  the  Truce  of  Vaucelles  put  an  end  to 
the  war,  the  only  recompense  he  had  been  able  to  obtain  was  the 
captaincy  of  a  compagnie  d'ordonnance,  the  nearest  equivalent  to 
a  modern  regiment1 

The  truce,  which  had  been  concluded  for  five  years,  was 
soon  broken,  and  at  the  beginning  of  1557  the  dogs  of  war  were 
again  slipped.  In  the  summer,  the  Spaniards  invaded  Picardy 
and  laid  siege  to  Saint-Quentin,  on  the  Somme,  one  of  the 
bulwarks  of  Paris.  Realizing  the  importance  of  saving  a  town 
the  fall  of  which  would  open  the  road  to  the  capital,  the 
Constable  hurried  northwards  with  all  the  troops  he  could  muster, 
and  Conde  accompanied  him.  The  overwhelming  superiority  of 
the  enemy  in  numbers,  however,  decided  Montmorency  not  to 
risk  an  engagement,  but  merely  to  make  a  feint  against  the 
besiegers'  lines,  and,  under  cover  of  this  movement,  to  throw 
reinforcements  and  provisions  into  the  town,  after  which  he 
intended  to  retire.  But  the  non-arrival  of  the  boats  required  to 
transport  the  reliefs  across  the  Somme  caused  a  delay  of  more 
than  two  hours ;  and,  when  Montmorency  began  to  retire,  he  found 
that  the  enemy  had  crossed  the  river  by  a  ford  of  which  he 
appears  to  have  been  in  ignorance,  seized  the  only  road  by  which 
he  could  retreat,  and  cut  his  army  right  in  two. 

Surprised  and  hopelessly  outnumbered,  the  French  were 
routed  with  terrible  loss.  Condi's  brother,  the  gallant  Comte 
d'Enghien,  was  among  the  slain,  while  the  Constable  and  the 
Marechal  de  Saint-Andre  were  taken  prisoners.  Conde  himself, 
who  was  stationed  with  part  of  the  light  cavalry  on  the  extreme 
right  wing  of  the  army,  displayed  the  most  admirable  courage 
and  presence  of  mind  amid  the  general  panic,  and,  keeping  his 
men  together,  succeeded  in  cutting  his  way  through  the  victo- 
rious Spaniards  and  reaching  La  Fere.  He  lost  no  time  in  taking 
the  field  again  and  kept  it  throughout  the  autumn,  continually 
harassing  the  enemy  and  attacking  their  foraging-parties  and 
convoys.     So  much  activity  and  vigour  on  the  morrow  of  a  great 

1  A  compagnie  (Pordonnance  was  composed  of  from  seventy-five  to  three  hundred 
men,  one  third  being  men-at-arms,  or  heavy  cavalry,  the  rest  foot-soldiers. 


12        THE  LOVE-AFFAIRS  OF  THE   COND&S 

defeat  undoubtedly  merited  some  substantial  recognition ;  but 
when,  at  the  beginning  of  the  following  year,  he  solicited  the 
post  of  colonel-general  of  the  light  cavalry  which  he  had  so 
gallantly  led,  he  was,  to  his  intense  mortification,  passed  over  in 
favour  of  the  Due  de  Nemours,  the  candidate  of  the  Guises.  It 
is  true  that,  by  way  of  compensation,  he  was  nominated  colonel- 
general  of  the  Cisalpine  infantry,  that  is  to  say,  of  the  infantry 
stationed  in  Piedmont ;  but,  since  France  had  lately  withdrawn 
all  her  troops  from  Piedmont  with  the  exception  of  a  few 
garrisons,  the  appointment  was  regarded  as  an  affront  rather 
than  an  honour. 

The  Peace  of  Cateau-Cambresis,  which  was  concluded  in  the 
following  spring,  prevented  Conde  from  acquiring  any  further 
military  distinction  in  the  service  of  his  country,  and  henceforth 
whatever  laurels  fell  to  his  share  were  gained  on  fields  where 
Frenchmen  were  opposed  to  Frenchmen.  If,  however,  the  life 
of  Henri  II.  had  been  prolonged  only  a  little  while,  it  is  almost 
certain  that  the  prince's  faithful  services  would  not  have  remained 
unrewarded  ;  for  both  the  King  and  Diane  de  Poitiers  were 
becoming  seriously  alarmed  at  the  growing  power  and  arrogance 
of  the  Guises,  and  the  latter  had  broken  with  them  and  formed 
an  alliance  with  Montmorency.  But  before  the  summer  was 
over,  Henri  II.  slept  with  his  fathers  at  Saint-Denis  ;  Diane  and 
the  Constable  had  been  disgraced,  and  the  Guises,  thanks  to  the 
marriage  of  their  niece,  Mary  Stuart,  to  the  new  King,  had 
become  the  masters  of  France. 

Conde's  patience  had  been  severely  tried  during  the  reign 
which  had  just  terminated  ;  and  it  was  scarcely  to  be  expected 
that  a  young  prince  of  his  ambitious  and  energetic  character 
would  resign  himself  to  the  sight  of  the  royal  authority  con- 
centrated in  the  hands  of  those  whose  aim  it  had  always  been 
to  exclude  his  family  from  their  rightful  share  in  the  direction  of 
affairs.  Nor  were  the  means  for  giving  very  effective  expression 
to  his  dissatisfaction  wanting. 

The  Reformation  in  France,  which  had  made  immense  strides 
during  the  last  years  of  Henri  II.,  notwithstanding  the  fierce,  if 


ARREST  OF  CONDfe  13 

intermittent,  persecution  to  which  it  had  been  subjected,  had 
ceased  to  be  a  purely  religious  movement  and  was  developing 
into  a  formidable  political  combination  with  which  it  was  the 
interest  of  discontented  and  ambitious  nobles  to  make  common 
cause,  without  in  any  way  partaking  of  its  spiritual  aspirations. 
Conde',  with  his  gay  and  pleasure-loving  nature,  could  have  had 
but  little  sympathy  with  the  austere  tenets  of  Calvinism,  and  it 
is  probable  that  the  mortifications  he  had  experienced,  the 
hope  of  uniting  his  fortunes  with  the  chances  of  success  which 
the  Reformers  were  able  to  offer,  and,  above  all,  his  hatred  of  the 
Guises,  contributed  far  more  than  religious  convictions  to  decide 
him  to  embrace  their  faith  and  their  cause.  His  elder  brother, 
Antoine,  who,  on  the  death  of  his  father-in-law  Henri  d'Albret, 
in  1555,  had  succeeded  to  the  throne  of  Navarre,  had  already 
done  so,  but,  though  brave  enough  in  war,  he  was  irresolute  and 
shifty  to  the  last  degree,  and  now,  when  faced  with  the  necessity 
for  vigorous  action,  he  declined  to  compromise  himself;  and  it 
was  therefore  to  the  second  Prince  of  the  Blood  that  the 
Huguenots  and  the  swarm  of  disbanded  soldiers  and  dis- 
appointed office-seekers  whom  the  Guises  had  driven  into  the 
ranks  of  the  opposition  looked  for  leadership.  How  far  Conde 
was  implicated  in  the  Conspiracy  of  Amboise,  whether  or  no  he 
was  the  chef  muet  who,  in  the  event  of  a  first  success,  was  to 
place  himself  at  the  head  of  the  movement,  is  a  question  which  is 
never  likely  to  be  satisfactorily  answered.  It  is  sufficient  that  he 
was  almost  universally  identified  with  that  mysterious  personage 
at  the  time,  and  that  this  belief  came  near  to  costing  him  his  life. 
Athough  permitted,  after  his  indignant  denial  of  the  charge, 
to  withdraw  from  Court,  he  and  the  King  of  Navarre,  notwith- 
standing the  entreaties  of  the  Princesse  de  Conde',  most  impru- 
dently resolved  to  obey  the  summons  of  Frangois  II.  to  the 
States- General  at  Orleans.  It  was  to  place  his  head  in  the  lion's 
mouth,  for  in  the  interval  fresh  evidence,  or  what  might  pass  for 
evidence,  against  him  had  been  obtained,  and  the  Guises  were 
resolved  on  his  destruction.  On  30  October,  1560,  the  two 
princes  arrived  at  Orleans.  The  King  received  them  with 
ominous  coldness,  and,  as  Conde"  was  leaving  the  apartments  of 


i4         THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS  OF  THE  CONDfeS 

the  Queen-Mother,  where  the  audience  had  taken  place,  he  was 
arrested,  and  conducted  to  a  house  near  the  convent  of  the 
Jacobins,  which  was  immediately  barred  up,  surrounded  by 
soldiers,  and  transformed  into  a  veritable  Bastille.  His  wife, 
who,  on  learning  of  his  arrest,  had  hastened  to  Orleans,  was 
refused  permission  to  see  him  ;  his  attendants  were  withdrawn, 
and  he  was  kept  in  the  most  absolute  solitude. 

Catherine  de'  Medici,  who  at  this  time  possessed  little  or  no 
power,  and  had  been  compelled,  from  the  instinct  of  self-preser- 
vation, to  cling  to  the  Guises,  pretended  to  approve  of  what  had 
been  done,  and  replied  to  all  who  besought  her  not  to  allow  the 
prince  to  be  brought  to  trial.  "  It  is  my  son's  will."  She 
confined  her  efforts  to  saving  the  King  of  Navarre,  who  was 
merely  kept  under  surveillance  in  his  apartments. 

Although,  as  a  Prince  of  the  Blood,  it  was  Conde's  undoubted 
privilege  to  be  tried  by  the  Grande  Chambre  of  the  Parlement 
in  Paris,  in  which  the  princes  and  peers  sat,  the  King  entrusted 
his  examination  to  a  commission  of  judges  presided  over  by 
Christophe  de  Thou,  First  President  of  the  Parlement.  Conde 
denied  the  competency  of  this  tribunal,  and  "appealed  from 
the  King  ill-advised  to  the  King  better-advised."  But  his  im- 
prudence in  accepting  the  services  of  two  advocates  gave  a 
semblance  of  legality  to  the  proceedings,  and  his  appeals  and 
protests  having  been  overruled  by  the  Privy  Council,  in  which 
such  was  the  fear  inspired  by  the  Guises  that  no  one  dared  to 
utter  a  word  in  his  defence,  on  26  November,  he  was  sentenced 
"  to  lose  his  head  on  the  scaffold." 

It  was  at  first  considered  probable  that  the  King's  clemency 
would  be  extended  to  his  condemned  kinsman,  "  in  considera- 
tion of  his  youth,"  and  every  effort  was  made  by  the  Princesse 
de  Conde,  the  Chatillons,  and  other  persons  of  high  rank  to 
secure  a  remission  of  the  sentence.  But  nothing  less  than  the 
death  of  their  rival  would  satisfy  the  Guises,  and,  though  the 
Chancellor  de  PHopital,  under  the  pretext  of  some  legal  flaw  in 
the  decree,  succeeded  in  delaying  the  execution,  it  was  finally 
fixed  for  10  December,  and  the  scaffold  on  which  it  was  to 
take  place  was  erected  before  the  royal  lodging. 


AN   OPPORTUNE   DEATH  15 

Cond6,  whose  courage  had  never  once  failed  him,  was  calmly 
awaiting  his  fate,  and  actually  playing  cards  with  some  of  the 
officers  who  guarded  him,  when  one  of  his  servants,  who  had 
been  permitted  to  attend  him,  approached  as  though  to  pick  up 
a  fallen  card,  and  whispered:  "Notre  homme  est  croqui!" 
Mastering  his  emotion,  the  prince  finished  his  game,  and  then, 
taking  the  man  aside,  learned  from  him  that  Francois  II.  was 
dead.  The  sickly  young  King  had  been  taken  ill  on  16  Novem- 
ber, and,  though  he  so  far  recovered  as  to  preside  over  the 
Council  which  passed  judgment  against  Conde,  on  the  following 
day  his  malady  assumed  a  grave  form,  and  on  5  December  an 
abscess  which  had  formed  in  the  ear  suddenly  broke,  and  he 
died  in  a  few  minutes. 

Foreseeing  her  eldest  son's  approaching  end,  Catherine  de' 
Medici,  on  the  advice  of  l'Hopital,  had  determined  to  save  the 
Bourbons,  in  order  to  use  them  to  counterbalance  the  Guises 
and  assure  the  independence  of  the  royal  power  of  which  she 
was  about  to  hold  the  reins.  Scarcely  had  Francois  II.  drawn 
his  last  breath,  when  the  old  Connetable  de  Montmorency, 
hastily  summoned  by  her,  arrived  at  Orleans,  at  the  head  of  eight 
hundred  gentlemen  ;  and  the  despotism  of  the  Lorraine  princes 
was  at  an  end. 

The  death  of  Francois  II.  opened  the  doors  of  Conde's 
prison,  but  the  prince,  who  attached  more  importance  to  his 
honour  than  his  liberty,  refused  to  accept  the  latter  until  the 
former  had  been  publicly  vindicated,  and,  in  the  meanwhile, 
announced  his  intention  of  remaining  where  he  was.  In  this 
decision  he  was  supported  by  his  wife,  but,  as  his  health  had 
suffered  during  his  imprisonment,  she  persuaded  him,  towards 
the  end  of  December,  to  exchange  the  severe  regime  of  his 
detention  at  Orleans  for  a  mitigated  captivity,  more  apparent 
than  real,  in  the  form  of  residence  on  an  estate  belonging  to 
the  King  of  Navarre,  near  la  Fere,  in  Picardy.  Here  he 
remained  for  some  weeks,  when  he  returned  to  Court,  where  his 
innocence  was  acknowledged  by  a  declaration  of  the  new  King, 
Charles  IX.,  which  was  subsequently  confirmed  by  the  Parlement, 
and  he  was  restored  to  his  former  position. 


CHAPTER    II 

Critical  condition  of  France  at  the  accession  of  Charles  IX. — Character 
and  policy  of  Catherine  de'  Medici — The  Triumvirate — Catherine  leans  to 
the  side  of  the  Reformers — The  "Edict  of  January" — Massacre  of  Vassy — 
Conde'  remains  faithful  to  the  Protestant  cause — Beginning  of  the  civil  war 
— The  Protestants,  at  first  successful,  soon  in  a  desperate  position — Cond^ 
turns  to  England  for  aid  :  Treaty  of  Hampton  Court — Fall  of  Rouen — 
Conde*  marches  on  Paris — Battle  of  Dreux  :  the  prince  taken  prisoner — 
Second  captivity  of  Conde — Assassination  of  Guise — Conference  on  the  Ile- 
aux-Bceufs — The  maids-of-honour — Peace  of  Amboise — Conde'  follows  the 
Court. 

NEVER  had  the  internal  condition  of  France  been  more 
critical,  never  had  she  stood  more  in  need  of  a  strong 
and  wise  government,  than  at  the  moment  when  the 
imaginary  majority  of  Francois  II.  was  succeeded  by  the  real 
minority  of  Charles  IX.  The  danger  which  threatened  her  was 
no  longer,  as  in  the  time  of  the  last  Sovereign  of  that  name,  a 
struggle  between  individual  ambitions ;  private  ambitions  had 
now  identified  themselves  with  the  living  forces  of  the  nation  ; 
the  whole  of  the  nobility  and  gentry  were  already  engaged  in 
the  quarrel  of  the  great  factions  which  divided  France,  and  the 
mass  of  the  people  only  awaited  the  signal  to  follow  their 
example. 

And  the  person  who  was  called  upon  to  deal  with  this 
critical  situation  was  Catherine  de'  Medici,  a  woman,  a  foreigner. 
During  the  reign  of  her  husband,  Catherine  had  perforce 
remained  in  the  background,  Henri  II.  being  completely  under 
the  influence  of  his  mistress,  Diane  de  Poitiers  ;  under  Francois 
II.,  the  government,  as  we  have  seen,  had  fallen  into  the  hands 
of  the  Guises,  and  she  had  been,  politically  speaking,  a  mere 
cipher.  But  the  early  death  of  her  eldest  son  had  given  her  the 
opportunity  which  she  so  ardently  desired — for  all  her  life  she 

16 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  17 

had  hungered  for  power  and  influence  as  a  starving  man  hungers 
for  bread — and  having  persuaded  the  King  of  Navarre  to  resign 
his  claims  to  the  Regency,  in  consideration  of  receiving  the 
title  of  Lieutenant-General  of  the  Kingdom,  she  at  once  assumed 
a  quasi-absolute  authority.  She  brought  to  the  task  a  remark- 
able knowledge  of  men  and  affairs — the  fruit  of  long  years  of 
quiet  study  and  observation — a  boundless  activity,  an  untiring 
vigilance,  a  charm  of  manner  which  few  who  came  into  contact 
with  her  could  resist,  and  a  soul  depraved  by  a  life  of  subjection 
and  dissimulation.  Her  master-passion  was  to  govern  through 
her  sons,  and  she  dreaded  every  influence  which  might  weaken 
by  one  iota  her  personal  authority. 

To  a  certain  extent,  she  succeeded  in  preserving  this,  but, 
though  sincerely  anxious  to  maintain  peace,  she  was  powerless 
to  save  France  from  the  anarchy  which  menaced  her.  For  she 
was  timid,  shifty,  and  irresolute,  and  incapable  of  any  noble 
aim  ;  while  it  is  also  probable  that  she  failed  to  recognize,  at 
any  rate  until  matters  had  gone  too  far  to  be  remedied,  the 
gravity  of  the  situation.  "  To  divide  in  order  to  reign  "  was  the 
principle  upon  which  she  acted ;  to  give  a  little  encouragement 
to  the  Huguenots,  to  instil  a  little  apprehension  into  the 
Catholics,  and  to  accustom  both  parties  to  regard  her  as  the 
dominating  factor  in  the  situation.  The  result  was  that  she 
was  distrusted  by  both  alike,  and  hastened  the  very  calamity 
she  desired  to  avert. 

And  this  calamity  was  rapidly  approaching.  Calvinism 
was  not,  as  certain  Protestant  historians  would  have  us  believe, 
a  sect  which  demanded  nothing  but  the  liberty  to  worship  God 
in  its  own  way  ;  it  was  violent,  intolerant,  propagandist,  and, 
under  the  influence  of  the  exiles  who  had  tasted  democracy  in 
Switzerland,  and  of  the  discontented  nobles  who  exploited  it 
for  their  own  ends,  was  becoming  as  much  a  political  as  a 
religious  organisation.  Thus,  it  deliberately  provoked  persecu- 
tion and  played  into  the  hands  of  its  most  implacable  enemies. 
The  coalition  which  had  been  formed  to  check  the  ambition  of 
the  Guises  was  dissolved  ;  while  Conde  and  Coligny  turned 
openly  to  Protestantism,  the  Constable,  a  rigid  Catholic  and  a 
c 


18         THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS  OF  THE  COND&S 

fervent  absolutist,  joined  hands  with  those  who  had  formerly 
plotted  his  ruin,  and  formed  with  the  Due  de  Guise  and  the 
Marechal  de  Saint-Andre  a  new  Catholic  league,  the  ill-omened 
Triumvirate.  Shortly  afterwards,  the  vain  and  fickle  Antoine 
de  Bourbon,  allured  by  what  de  Thou  calls  "the  entertainment 
of  hopes "  dangled  before  his  eyes  by  Philip  II.  of  Spain, 
renounced  both  his  family  ties  and  his  Protestant  convictions 
and  joined  the  Triumvirs. 

Nevertheless,  during  the  latter  part  of  the  year  1561  the 
Court  was  certainly  rallying  to  the  side  of  the  Reformers,  for 
the  King  of  Navarre's  accession  to  the  Triumvirate  had  given 
the  latter  such  a  predominance  that  Catherine  was  obliged  to 
seek  a  counterpoise.  It  was  with  her  warm  approval  that  the 
Colloquy  of  Poissy  took  place,  in  the  hope  of  arriving  at  some 
settlement  of  the  chief  differences  between  the  two  religions. 
The  latitudinarian  Prince  de  la  Roche-sur-Yon  was  appointed 
the  young  King's  gouverneur ;  Coligny's  brother  Andelot,  most 
stalwart  of  Huguenots,  was  admitted  to  the  Council.  The 
celebrated  Theodore  de  Beze  was  invited  to  Paris ;  the  King 
and  Queen-Mother  went  to  hear  him  preach,  and  he  and  other 
eminent  divines  expounded  Calvinistic  doctrines  daily  in  the 
lodgings  of  Conde  and  Coligny  to  the  ladies  and  gentlemen  of 
the  Court.  The  Huguenots  in  the  provinces  as  well  as  in  the 
capital  were  accorded  a  covert  toleration,  and  the  authorities 
recommended  "  to  close  their  eyes  to  what  only  concerned  the 
practice  of  their  religion." 

But  a  much  stronger  hand  than  Catherine's  was  required  to 
persuade  the  two  religions  to  dwell  together  in  even  a  pretence 
of  harmony.  The  Huguenots  were  determined  to  be  treated 
no  longer  as  legal  outcasts  ;  the  High  Catholic  party,  represented 
by  the  Triumvirate,  was  equally  resolute  to  allow  of  no  equality. 
After  three  months  of  argument  and  recrimination,  and,  at  the 
last,  of  mere  invective  and  abuse,  the  Colloquy  of  Poissy  was 
dissolved ;  daily  disturbances  broke  out ;  partisan  feeling 
became  more  and  more  embittered  ;  the  Regent  was  powerless 
to  stem  the  fast  rising  tide  of  hatred. 

One  last  despairing  effort  for  peace  Catherine  made.     In  the 


MASSACRE  OF  VASSY  19 

middle  of  January  1562,  on  the  urgent  advice  of  Conde,  Coligny, 
and  l'Hopital,  she  promulgated  the  celebrated  edict,  known  as 
the]  "  Edict  of  January,"  which  recognized  the  legality  of 
Protestant  worship  outside  the  walls  of  towns.  The  Huguenots 
were  exultant ;  the  Catholics  correspondingly  exasperated ; 
disturbances,  attended  in  several  instances  with  bloodshed, 
occurred  in  the  capital  and  in  other  towns ;  and  on  March  1, 
the  Massacre  of  Vassy  by  Guise's  followers  kindled  the  long- 
expected  conflagration. 

No  effort  had  been  spared  by  the  Triumvirate  to  detach 
Conde"  from  the  Reformers ;  and  the  means  which  had  proved 
so  efficacious  in  the  case  of  the  King  of  Navarre  had  not  been 
omitted.  But  the  prince  was  made  of  sterner  stuff  than  his 
brother ;  beneath  a  somewhat  frivolous  exterior  he  concealed  a 
haughty  and  resolute  spirit,  and  this,  joined  to  the  influence  of 
his  noble  wife,  kept  him  true  to  the  cause  which  he  had  es- 
poused. When  the  news  of  the  massacre  reached  him,  he  was 
in  Paris,  where  every  Sunday  he  might  have  been  seen,  pistol 
in  hand  and  accompanied  by  several  hundred  gentlemen  on 
horseback,  escorting  Huguenot  pastors  through  the  howling  mob 
to  their  meeting-place  at  Charenton.  Furious  with  indignation, 
he  lost  not  a  moment  in  sending  Beze  to  the  Court,  which  was 
then  at  Fontainebleau,  to  demand  that  the  massacreur  of  Vassy 
should  not  be  permitted  to  enter  Paris.  "  I  speak,"  cried  the 
divine,  when  the  King  of  Navarre  endeavoured  to  defend 
Guise,  "  for  a  Faith  which  is  better  in  suffering  than  in  avenging 
wrong ;  but  remember,  Sire,  that  it  is  an  anvil  which  has  worn 
out  many  a  hammer." 

Catherine,  without  declaring  her  intentions,  wrote  to  the 
duke  ordering  him  to  join  her  "pen  accompagne  "  at  Monceaux,  in 
Brie,  whither  she  proceeded  with  the  young  King,  and,  at  the 
same  time,  sent  orders  to  the  Marechal  de  Saint- Andr6,  who  was 
in  Paris,  to  repair  to  his  government.  Both  declined  to  obey, 
and  on  March  16  Guise  entered  the  capital  at  the  head  of  2000 
horse,  and  was  hailed  by  the  populace  "  comme  envoye"  de 
Dieu." 

There  were  now  in  Paris  two  hostile  camps,  as  in  the  time 


20        THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS  OF  THE   COND&S 

of  the  Bourguignons  and  Armagnacs  ;  and  Catherine,  fearing  a 
collision,  sent  orders  to  Conde  to  leave  Paris.  Recognizing 
the  impossibility  of  disputing  the  capital  with  the  Catholics,  he 
obeyed,  and  proceeded  to  Meaux,  where,  after  some  hesitation, 
Coligny  joined  him.  Catherine  and  the  young  King  had 
returned  to  Fontainebleau,  and  the  former  wrote  to  Conde 
entreating  him  "  to  save  the  children,  the  mother  and  the  king- 
dom." If  he  and  Coligny  had  acted  with  energy  and  decision, 
they  might  have  secured  the  person  of  the  young  Sovereign  ; 
but  they  waited  for  reinforcements,  and  when  at  length  they 
advanced  towards  Paris,  they  found  that  the  Triumvirs  had 
forestalled  them,  and  that  the  King  was  in  the  hands  of  the 
enemy. 

Foiled  in  this  attempt,  Cond^  turned  southwards,  with  the 
intention  of  occupying  Orleans,  a  place  which,  on  account  of  its 
central  position,  would  serve  as  an  admirable  base  for  his  opera- 
tions, and,  to  some  extent,  counterbalance  the  advantage  which 
the  Triumvirs  derived  from  the  possession  of  the  capital. 

On  reaching  Artenay,  six  leagues  from  Orleans,  on  the 
morning  of  April  2,  he  learned  that  Andelot,  with  a  handful 
of  men,  had  seized  one  of  the  gates  of  that  town,  and  was 
holding  it  against  the  garrison  and  a  part  of  the  citizens. 
"  He  had  with  him  about  two  thousand  gentlemen  and  their 
valets,  and,  putting  himself  at  their  head,  he  set  off  at  full 
gallop  for  the  gate,  and  the  whole  pack  after  him."  Baggage, 
horses,  and  men  fell  and  rolled  over  in  the  dust,  without  any 
one  attempting  to  draw  rein,  amid  shouts  of  laughter  from  the 
reckless  cavalcade,  and  to  the  great  astonishment  of  peaceable 
travellers,  who,  ignorant  that  hostilities  had  broken  out,  asked 
one  another  if  it  were  "  an  assembly  of  all  the  madmen  in  France." 
But  the  "  madmen  "  swept  along  on  their  headlong  course,  and 
before  noon  had  sounded  from  the  clocks  of  Orleans,  they  were 
masters  of  the  town  and  "of  the  taps  of  the  most  delicious  wines 
of  France."  l 

"  Under   these  joyous   auspices,"    observed    Henri  Martin, 

1  La  Noue,  "  Memoires." 


FIRST   WAR  OF  RELIGION  BEGINS  21 

"  began  the  most  horrible  civil  war  of  modern  times  ; "  and 
unhappy  France  became  the  scene  of  a  frightful  orgy  of  massacre, 
rape,  and  pillage.  At  first  Fortune  smiled  upon  the  Reformers, 
who,  thanks  to  the  organization  of  their  churches,  were  better 
prepared  for  hostilities  than  their  adversaries.  The  principal 
towns  of  Central  France,  Tours,  Blois,  and  Bourges,  declared 
against  the  Triumvirate,  and  admitted  Huguenot  garrisons  ; 
Rouen  and  Le  Havre,  in  Normandy,  Lyons  and  many  cities  in 
the  South,  fell  into  their  hands.  For  a  few  weeks  the  move- 
ment seemed  irresistible.  But  the  Catholic  party  was  by  far 
the  stronger.  It  had  secured  the  person  of  the  young  King  and 
forced  Catherine  to  side  with  it,  and  thus  had  at  its  disposal  the 
Treasury  and  most  of  the  permanent  forces  of  the  realm.  It 
appealed,  also,  to  the  Catholic  States  for  assistance,  and  obtained 
from  Phillip  II.  an  auxiliary  corps  of  4000  Spaniards,  which 
operated  in  Guienne  and  Gascony  ;  while  the  Duke  of  Savoy  sent 
troops  into  the  Rhone  valley.  By  the  middle  of  August,  all  the 
towns  seized  at  the  outset  by  the  Huguenots  had  been  recovered, 
and  the  Protestant  cause  seemed  well-nigh  hopeless. 

Desperately  pressed,  Conde  turned  to  England  for  aid. 
Emissaries  were  dispatched  to  London,  and  on  September  20, 
1562,  the  Vidame  de  Chartres,  on  behalf  of  the  prince,  signed 
the  Treaty  of  Hampton  Court,  which  stipulated  that  Le  Havre 
and  Dieppe  were  to  be  placed  in  Elizabeth's  hands,  in  return 
for  a  loan  of  140,000  crowns  and  a  contingent  of  6000  men. 
The  vidame,  however,  went  beyond  his  instructions,  and  per- 
mitted Cecil  to  insert  an  article  whereby  it  was  agreed  that  the 
English  were  to  remain  at  Le  Havre,  not  until  the  termination  of 
the  war,  but  until  Calais  was  restored  to  them. 

The  calling  in  of  the  hereditary  enemy  brought  great  odium 
upon  the  Huguenot  leaders,  nor  did  they  derive  from  it  the 
advantages  upon  which  they  had  counted,  since  Elizabeth, 
desirous  only  of  securing  an  equivalent  for  Calais,  declined  to 
allow  her  troops  to  pass  beyond  the  lines  of  Le  Havre  and  Dieppe. 
At  the  risk  of  incurring  her  anger,  Sir  Adrian  Poynings,  who 
commanded  temporarily  at  Le  Havre,  pending  the  arrival  of  the 
Earl  of  Warwick,  sent  five  hundred  men  to  endeavour  to  make 


22        THE  LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE  COND&S 

their  way  into  Rouen,  which  was  now  closely  invested  by  the 
royal  troops.  The  majority  succeeded  in  this  desperate  enter- 
prise, but  they  were  powerless  to  save  the  town,  which  was 
taken  by  assault,  after  a  siege  during  which  the  King  of  Navarre 
received  a  wound  from  which  he  died  a  month  later,  "still 
flattering  himself  with  the  hopes  raised  by  the  King  of  Spain." 
He  left  as  his  heir  a  boy  nine  years  old,  who  was  one  day  to 
succeed  to  the  throne  of  France  through  the  common  ruin  of 
the  Valois  and  the  Guises. 

The  intervention  of  the  English,  if  it  had  served  no  other 
purpose,  had  drawn  off  the  Catholic  army  from  its  projected 
siege  of  Orleans,  and  Condd,  ever  sanguine,  did  not  allow  him- 
self to  be  cast  down  by  the  reverses  his  cause  had  sustained. 
"We  have  lost  our  two  castles  (Bourges  and  Rouen),"  said  he, 
employing  a  chess  metaphor,  "  but  we  shall  take  their  knights  "  ; 
and  he  was  eager  to  stake  the  last  chances  of  his  party  in  a 
great  battle.  At  the  beginning  of  November,  the  news  that  a 
considerable  force  of  German  mercenaries,  which  Andelot  had 
raised  in  the  Rhineland,  was  on  the  march  to  join  him,  deter- 
mined the  prince  to  quit  Orleans  and  advance  upon  Paris. 
At  Pithiviers,  on  November  1 1,  he  affected  his  junction  with 
the  foreign  levies,  and,  at  the  head  of  an  army  of  some  15,000 
men,  more  than  one-third  of  whom  were  cavalry,  he  moved 
slowly  towards  the  capital,  taking  and  pillaging  the  towns  on 
his  line  of  march. 

Paris  was  very  weakly  defended,  most  of  its  regular  garrison 
being  in  the  field  with  the  Triumvirs,  and,  had  he  acted  with 
vigour,  he  might  have  made  himself  master  of  at  least  a 
part  of  the  city.  But  he  allowed  himself  to  be  drawn  into 
negotiations  by  Catherine,  and  the  delay  which  these  entailed 
enabled  Guise  to  arrive  with  the  advance-guard  of  the  army 
which  had  been  besieging  Rouen. 

After  a  skirmish  beneath  the  walls,  and  two  unsuccessful 
attempts  to  take  the  city  by  camisado,  Conde  drew  off  his 
troops  and  marched  into  Normandy,  with  the  intention  of 
getting  into  touch  with  the  English  at  Le  Havre.  But,  owing 
principally  to  the  immense  number  of  carts  for  the  conveyance 


COND&  TAKEN   PRISONER  23 

of  past  and  future  plunder  which  the  Germans  insisted  on 
taking  with  them,  his  army  made  such  slow  progress  that  the 
Triumvirs  were  able  to  outmarch  it,  and  on  December  19  the 
prince  found  them  barring  his  road  near  the  town  of  Dreux. 

The  royal  forces  were  superior  in  infantry  and  artillery  to 
the  Huguenots,  but  the  latter  had  a  decided  preponderance  in 
cavalry,  and  the  battle  which  followed  was  long  and  obstinately 
contested.  Conde,  who  had  distinguished  himself  more  by 
his  intrepidity  than  his  generalship,  was  unhorsed  and  taken 
prisoner ;  the  Constable,  who  commanded  the  royal  army, 
experienced  a  like  fate  ;  while  Saint-Andre  was  killed.1  The 
carnage  on  both  sides  was  very  great,  but  the  Catholics 
remained  masters  of  the  field,  though  Coligny  was  able  to  draw 
off  the  beaten  Huguenots  in  excellent  order. 

The  Constable  was  dispatched,  in  charge  of  Andelot,  to 
Orleans,  where  he  had  the  Princesse  de  Conde  for  hostess ; 
Conde  was  conducted  by  Montmorency's  second  son,  the  Baron 
de  Damville,  to  whom  he  had  surrendered,  to  the  quarters  of 
Guise.  In  these  detestable  wars,  prisoners  were  often  treated 
with  great  harshness  and  cruelty,  and  sometimes,  as  we  have  just 
seen,  their  lives  were  not  even  spared  when  they  happened  to 
fall  into  the  hands  of  some  personal  enemy.  But  Guise  received 
Conde  with  as  much  courtesy  and  deference  as  the  Black 
Prince  had  shown  his  royal  captive  at  Poitiers.  He  placed 
at  his  disposal  the  peasant's  cottage  in  which  he  was  quar- 
tered, apologizing  for  being  compelled  to  give  so  poor  a 
reception  to  so  illustrious  a  visitor,  and  it  was  only  at  the 
prince's  repeated  request  that  he  consented  to  share  with  him 
this  humble  lodging.  They  supped  together  off  the  same 
coarse  fare,  conversing  amicably  the  while,  and  the  same  bundle 
of  straw  served  them  for  a  bed.  The  duke,  however,  could 
well  afford  to  show  magnanimity  towards  a  fallen  foe,  for,  now 
that  the    King  of  Navarre  and  Saint-Andre  were  dead,  and 

1  Saint-Andre  had  also  been  taken  prisoner,  but  among  his  captors  was  a 
Huguenot  gentleman  named  Bobigny  whom  he  had  deeply  injured,  and  who 
proceeded  to  revenge  himself  by  blowing  out  the  unfortunate  marshal's  brains  with  a 
pistol. 


24        THE  LOVE-AFFAIRS  OF  THE   COND&S 

Conde  and  the  Constable  prisoners,  he  had  no  rival  but  Coligny 
to  fear,  and  the  predominance  of  his  ambitious  House  seemed 
assured. 

The  day  after  the  battle,  Conde  was  again  entrusted  to  the 
care  of  Damville,  who  had  only  surrendered  his  prisoner  to 
Guise  as  an  act  of  deference,  and  who  was  subsequently 
constituted  his  legal  custodian  by  a  special  authority  from  the 
King.  Damville,  who  naturally  regarded  him  as  a  hostage  for 
the  safety  of  his  father,  the  Constable,  guarded  him  very 
strictly,  though  his  servants  were  allowed  to  remain  with  him, 
and  a  Huguenot  pastor  named  Perussel,  who  had  also  been 
taken  prisoner,  was  authorized  to  minister  to  his  spiritual  needs 
and  conducted  a  long  "preche "  in  his  chamber  every  day. 
After  being  successively  conducted  to  Chartres,  Blois,  and 
Amboise  in  the  wake  of  the  Court,  he  was  incarcerated  by  the 
Regent's  orders,  in  the  Chateau  of  Onzain,  an  old  feudal 
fortress,  about  three  leagues  from  the  last-named  town.1  Here 
he  succeeded  in  bribing  two  of  his  gaolers,  and  arranged  with 
their  assistance  to  escape  in  the  disguise  of  a  peasant.  But 
one  of  the  men  betrayed  the  plot  to  Damville,  and  Conde 
learned  that  all  had  been  discovered  by  seeing  the  other  soldier 
dangling  from  a  gibbet  erected  beneath  his  window.  After  this, 
the  prince  was  deprived  of  his  servants,  placed  in  solitary  con- 
finement, and  most  rigorously  guarded  ;  and  a  rumour  began 
to  spread,  though  it  was  probably  without  foundation,  that  the 
Guises  intended  to  compel  Catherine  to  have  him  again  brought 
to  trial  for  high  treason. 

Meanwhile,  the  Due  de  Guise  had  laid  siege  to  Orleans,  the 
last  stronghold  left  to  the  Reformers.  The  town  taken,  it  was 
his  intention  to  call  out  the  ban  and  arrihre-bany  for  which 
purpose  a  tax  had  been  levied  on  the  revenues  of  the  Church, 
overwhelm  Coligny,  who  with  the  Huguenot  cavalry  was  over- 
running Normandy,  drive   the   English   from   Le  Havre   and 

1  It  was  here  that  Lord  Grey  de  Wilton  had  been  incarcerated  after  being  made 
prisoner  at  Guines,  in  1558.  His  captor,  the  Comte  de  la  Rochefoucauld,  treated 
him  most  harshly,  and  he  only  recovered  his  liberty  by  the  sacrifice  of  practically 
the  whole  of  his  fortune. 


CONFERENCE   ON    THE   ILE-AUX-BCEUFS      25 

Dieppe,  and  convert  his  office  of  Lieutenant-General  of  the 
Kingdom,  which  the  King  had  been  obliged  to  confer  upon  him 
in  recognition  of  his  services  at  Dreux,  into  a  dictatorship. 

The  defenders  of  Orleans,  decimated  by  famine  and  the 
plague,  were  incapable  of  offering  more  than  a  feeble  resistance  ; 
the  outworks  were  quickly  captured,  and  the  final  assault  was 
daily  expected,  when,  on  the  evening  of  February  15,  1563, 
while  returning  from  a  reconnaissance,  the  duke  was  mortally 
wounded  by  a  Huguenot  fanatic,  Poltrot  de  Mere,  who  fired 
upon  him  from  the  shelter  of  a  copse.  He  expired  six  days 
later,  to  the  undisguised  joy  of  the  Reformers  and  to  the  secret 
relief  of  Catherine,  who  dreaded  nothing  so  much  as  the 
prospect  of  a  second  period  of  Guise  ascendancy. 

The  death  of  the  Due  de  Guise  paved  the  way  for  peace  ; 
and,  through  the  intervention  of  Catherine  and  the  Princesse  de 
Conde,  it  was   arranged   that   the   prince  and   the   Constable 
should   meet   and   discuss   its   conditions.     On  March  7,  two 
barges,  the   first   coming   from  Orleans,  the  second   from  the 
opposite  bank   of    the   Loire,   arrived  at  the    Ile-aux-Bceufs, 
situated  a  little  below  the  town.      In  one  was  the  Constable, 
under  the  care  of  his  nephew,  Andelot ;  in  the  other,  Conde, 
under  that  of  Damville.     "  There  was  a  handsome  boat  ready 
for  them,  laid  over  with  planks  to  make  it  broad  and  chamber- 
like, and  covered  with  tapestry  from  the  sun,  where  they  should 
have   '  parlemented '   together."     But   the   uncle   and  nephew, 
unwilling  to  risk   their   conversation  being   overheard,   "  liked 
better  to  walk,  which  they  did  for  two  hours,  d'Anville  (sic), 
l'Aubespine  and  d'Aussy  standing  by,  but  not  within  hearing."  1 
Then   they  parted,  without   having  arrived  at  any  agree- 
ment, since  Condejnsisted  that  the  "  Edict  of  January  "  should 
be  re-established  in  its  entirety,  to  which  Montmorency  abso- 
lutely declined  to  consent,  declaring  that  the  Catholics  would 
refuse   to  observe   it.     The   Constable    was   escorted  back   to 
Orleans,  and  the  prince  to  the  Catholic  camp  at  Saint-Mesmin. 
On  the  morrow,  they  returned  to  the  Ile-aux-Boeufs.      This 
time  the  prince's  barge  was  followed  by  another,  in  which  sat 
1  Smith  to  Cecil,  March  12,  1563,  State  Papers  (Elizabeth),  Foreign  Series. 


26        THE  LOVE-AFFAIRS  OF  THE   CONDfiS 

Catherine  de'  Medici,  Conde's  only  surviving  brother,  the 
Cardinal  de  Bourbon,  and  the  Due  d'Aumale,  and  two  of  the 
Queen-Mother's  maids  of  honour.  It  was  remarked  that 
these  two  damsels  were  the  most  beautiful  of  the  bevy  of  young 
beauties  whom  Catherine  had  collected  round  her,  and  there 
was  a  shrewd  suspicion  that  it  was  for  that  very  reason  they 
had  been  chosen  to  attend  her  Majesty  upon  this  occasion. 
History  has  not  preserved  the  name  of  the  elder,  but  that  of 
the  younger  was  Isabelle  de  Latour-Limeuil,  a  lady  who  was 
destined  to  play  a  very  prominent  part  in  Conde's  life. 

Conde  was  a  bad  subject  for  prison  life,  and  the  rigorous 
detention  to  which  he  had  been  subjected  at  the  Chateau  of 
Onzain  had  not  been  without  its  effect  upon  him  ;  he  was 
anxious  to  safeguard  the  interests  of  his  co-religionists,  but  he 
was  still  more  anxious  to  recover  his  liberty.  "  The  little  man 
to  whom  I  have  spoken,"  wrote  the  Prince  de  la  Roche-sur-Yon, 
who  had  had  an  interview  with  him  some  days  before,  to 
Catherine,  "  is  very  desirous  to  see  the  end  of  these  troubles  ; 
he  will  accommodate  himself  to  everything."  The  writer  had 
correctly  judged  the  situation. 

The  conference  was  renewed,  this  time  in  the  presence  of 
the  Queen-Mother.  Catherine  had  always  exercised  a  great 
influence  over  Conde,  and,  only  a  few  months  before,  in  an 
interview  between  them  at  Thoury,  she  had  all  but  brought  him 
to  conclude  peace  on  her  own  conditions,  when  Coligny  had 
interfered  and  caused  the  negotiations  to  be  broken  off.  Now, 
however,  Coligny  was  far  away,  and  Catherine  did  not  fail  to 
press  her  advantage  home.  She  made  an  eloquent  appeal  to  the 
prince's  patriotism  ;  she  flattered  him  ;  she  "  insinuated  that,  if 
he  were  to  conclude  peace  without  being  too  obstinate  over  the 
conditions,  he  should  be  elevated  to  the  rank  of  the  late  King  of 
Navarre,  his  brother,1  and  might  do,  from  that  time,  all  that  he 
wished  for  those  of  the  Religion." 

Conde  was  ambitious ;   he  was  far  from   unsusceptible  to 
flattery,  and  he  ardently  desired  to  recover  his  freedom.     He 
looked  at  the  subtle  diplomatist  who  was  speaking  him  so  fair, 
1  The  post  of  Lieutenant-General  of  the  Kingdom. 


LOUIS    I    DE    BOURHOX,    PRINCE    DK   CONDK 

FROM    AN    ENGRAVING 


cond£  and  the  HUGUENOT  PASTORS     27 

and  forced  himself  to  believe  that  she  was  sincere  in  her  protes- 
tations. He  looked  at  Damville  and  his  guards,  and  thought 
with  a  shudder  of  the  gloomy  fortress  which  he  had  lately  left, 
and  to  which  it  would  probably  be  his  fate  to  return,  if  the 
negotiations  were  broken  off.  And  then  his  glance  wandered  to 
the  maids-of-honour,  standing  just  out  of  earshot,  and  rested  on 
Isabelle  de  Limeuil ;  and  he  felt  his  heart  beat  a  trifle  faster,  as 
he  noted  her  charming  face  and  the  graceful  lines  of  her  figure. 
Did  she  not  represent  all  the  pleasures  of  the  Court  from  which 
he  had  been  so  long  separated,  but  which  it  was  now  in  his 
power  to  enjoy  again  ? 

The  prince  was  already  won  over,  already  prepared  to 
accept  important  modifications  of  the  "  Edict  of  January," 
when,  that  same  evening,  with  the  consent  of  the  Queen,  he 
entered  Orleans  to  confer  with  the  council  of  the  Protestant 
Association.  He  found  the  council  divided  into  two  sharply 
defined  parties ;  on  the  one  side  were  all  the  ministers,  to  the 
number  of  seventy-two,  with  Theodore  de  Beze  at  their  head  ; 
on  the  other,  the  great  majority  of  the  Huguenot  gentlemen. 

"  The  men  of  war  demanded  only  peace  ;  the  ministers  of 
the  Holy  Gospel  called  for  the  continuance  of  the  war,  at  least 
until  the  "  Edict  of  January  "  was  re-established  in  its  entirety, 
and  invited  the  prince  to  require  the  King  to  mete  out  rigorous 
punishment  to  all '  atheists,  freethinkers,  Anabaptists,  Servetists, 
and  other  heretics  and  schismatics.'  Barely  escaped  from  the 
stake  themselves,  they  demanded  the  right  to  drag  other 
victims  to  it."  l 

With  ill-concealed  impatience,  Conde  listened  to  the 
demands  of  these  intractable  theologians ;  then,  turning  from 
them,  he  invited  his  old  companions-in-arms  to  express  their 
opinion.  With  one  voice  these  gentlemen,  who  were  heartily 
weary  of  the  war  and  asked  only  to  be  allowed  to  return  to 
their  homes,  declared  themselves  willing  to  accept  peace  on  the 
conditions  which  the  Court  was  prepared  to  offer.  Strong  in 
their  support,  the  prince  felt  that  he  could  afford  to  defy  the 
ministers  and  the  democratic  section  of  the  party  ;  and  when, 
1  Henri  Martin,  "  Hisioire  de  France  jusqu'en  1789." 


28        THE  LOVE-AFFAIRS  OF  THE  CONDfeS 

on  March  23,  Coligny,  fresh  from  his  victorious  campaign  in 
Normandy,  arrived  at  Orleans  to  take  part  in  the  negotiations, 
he  found  that  he  was  too  late.  The  Edict,  or  Peace,  of  Amboise 
had  been  promulgated  in  that  town  on  the  19th,  and  published 
in  the  royal  camp  on  the  22nd. 

The  Admiral  was  deeply  mortified  at  Conde's  surrender,  in 
which  he  suspected  that  personal  considerations  had  counted 
for  not  a  little,  and  declared,  with  pardonable  exaggeration, 
that  "  by  a  stroke  of  the  pen  more  churches  had  been  ruined 
than  the  enemy  could  have  razed  in  ten  years."  As  for  the 
Huguenot  ministers,  they  were  exasperated  to  the  last  degree 
against  the  prince,  stigmatized  the  treaty  as  "that  of  a  man 
who  had  left  half  his  manhood  in  captivity,"  and  accused  him 
of  having  yielded  to  the  seductions  of  Catherine's  Court,  and  of 
having  haleni  her  maids-of-honour.1 

Somewhat  conscience-stricken,  Conde  joined  the  Admiral 
in  a  belated  attempt  to  get  the  articles  modified  in  a  Protestant 
sense,  but,  though  Catherine  agreed  to  some  concessions,  she 
firmly  refused  to  allow  them  to  be  inserted  in  the  edict.  On 
April  1  she  made  her  entry  into  Orleans,  having  the  Cardinal 
de  Bourbon  on  her  right  hand,  and  Conde  on  her  left.  A  few 
days  later,  Coligny  set  out  for  Chatillon,  to  seek  in  the  bosom 
of  his  family  the  repose  which  he  had  so  well  earned.  Conde 
would  have  done  well  to  follow  his  example.  Unfortunately, 
he  preferred  to  follow  the  Court  to  Amboise. 

1  D'Aubigne,  "  Histoirc  Universelle." 


CHAPTER   III 

Catherine  de1  Medici  and  her  "  escadron  volant" — Adroitness  with  which 
the  Queen  employs  the  charms  of  her  maids-of-honour  to  seduce  the  Huguenot 
chiefs— The  King  of  Navarre  and  la  belle  Rouet— Policy  of  Catherine  after 
the  Peace  of  Amboise — She  determines  to  compromise  Conde  with  his  foreign 
allies  and  the  French  Protestants,  by  encouraging  his  taste  for  sensual 
pleasures — And  selects  for  his  subjugation  her  maid-of-honour  and  kins- 
woman Isabelle  de  Limeuil — Description  of  this  siren — Her  admirers — 
Her  mercenary  character — Beginning  of  her  liaison  with  the  prince — Condd 
and  Elizabeth  of  England— Mile,  de  Limeuil,  inspired  by  Catherine,  seeks 
to  persuade  Conde"  to  break  with  Elizabeth — Mission  of  d'Alluye  to  England 
— Conde"  is  induced  to  take  up  arms  against  his  late  allies — Siege  and 
surrender  of  Le  Havre. 

THE  life  of  the  Court,  which  naturally  possessed  a  great 
attraction  for  a  man  of  Condi's  temperament,  was  full 
of  snares  and  pitfalls.  It  was  not  for  the  mere 
pleasure  of  beholding  their  pretty  faces  that  Catherine  recruited 
her  entourage  from  the  most  beautiful  young  girls  in  France. 
During  the  lifetime  of  her  husband,  in  the  days  before  she  had 
been  called  upon  to  play  a  political  role,  Catherine  had  been 
the  most  austere  of  queens,  guarding  the  reputation  of  her 
ladies  as  jealously  as  she  did  her  own,  and  visiting  with  her 
severe  displeasure  the  slightest  breach  of  decorum  on  their  part. 
But  when  she  found  herself  a  widow,  struggling  in  an  endless 
web  of  plot  and  falsehood  to  protect  her  children's  heritage ; 
beset  on  one  side  by  the  Catholics,  on  the  other,  by  the  Hugue- 
nots ;  often  driven  to  her  wits'  end  to  devise  means  to  prevent 
the  royal  authority  being  submerged  amid  the  strife  of  contend- 
ing parties,  her  austerity  gave  way  before  political  exigencies, 
and,  recognizing  how  formidable  a  weapon  she  possessed  in  the 
charms  of  her  " escadron  volant"  she  exploited  them  without 
scruple.     "  These    maids-of-honour,"   writes   Brantome,   "  were 

29 


30        THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE  COND&S 

sufficient  to  set  fire  to  the  whole  world ;  indeed,  they  burned  up 
a  good  part  of  it,  as  many  of  us  gentlemen  of  the  Court  as  of 
others  who  approached  their  flames." 

Catherine  received  not  a  few  remonstrances  concerning  the 
havoc  wrought  by  the  beaux yenxol  these  damsels.  "  You  ought, 
Madame,"  runs  one  of  them,  "  to  content  yourself  with  a  small 
train  of  maids-of-honour,  and  to  look  to  it  that  they  do  not  pass 
and  repass  through  the  hands  of  men,  and  that  they  are  more 
modestly  clothed."  But  Catherine's  squadron  had  demonstrated 
its  peculiar  value  on  too  many  occasions  for  her  to  dream  of 
disbanding  it,  or  even  of  placing  it  on  a  peace-footing ;  and  so 
its  members  continued  to  illuminate  the  Court  ball-rooms,  "  like 
stars  shining  in  a  serene  heaven."  l  For  the  rest,  her  Majesty 
pretended  to  ignore  the  vices  of  her  filles  cThonneur,  the  better  to 
make  use  of  them  when  occasion  for  their  services  arose.  No 
one  could  have  shown  more  adroitness  in  throwing  some  isolated 
and  often  unconscious  combatant  in  the  path  of  the  politicians 
and  party-leaders  whom  she  had  reason  to  fear,  to  captivate 
their  senses  and  surprise  their  secrets.  It  was  against  the 
Huguenot  chiefs  that  this  insidious  mode  of  warfare  was  most 
frequently  employed.  "  However  austere  they  may  wish  to 
appear,  these  men  are  of  their  time,  and  share  the  weaknesses 
of  their  contemporaries.  Women  had,  in  many  cases,  launched 
them  into  adventures,  women  will  check  them  in  full  career. 
Those  who  succeed  without  provoking  scandal  are  highly 
praised  and  rewarded  ;  the  maladroit  will  be  the  less  supported 
in  their  difficulties  in  that  they  are  never  able  to  invoke  the 
excuse  of  a  definite  mission."  2 

Knowing  what  we  do  of  Catherine's  little  ways,  it  is  not 
difficult  to  imagine  the  tactics  adopted.  The  destined  victim, 
on  some  pretext  or  other,  is  lured  to  the  Court.  He  comes,  not 
ill-pleased  to  be  afforded  an  opportunity  of  airing  his  grievances 
in  the  royal  presence,  but  very  resolved  not  to  allow  the  Queen 
to  penetrate  the  secrets  of  his  party  or  to  obtain  from  him  the 
least  concession.  He  is  very  coldly  received,  informed  that  his 
demands  are  unreasonable,  and  that   the  Queen  fears  that  it 

1  BrantGme.  s  M.  Henri  Bouchot,  "  les  Femmes  de  Brandume." 


THE  "ESCADRON  VOLANT"  31 

will  be  impossible  to  accede  to  them.  However,  she  has  not 
the  leisure  to  go  further  into  the  matter  at  that  moment ;  let 
him  return  at  the  same  hour  on  the  following  day,  when  she  will 
hope  to  find  him  less  exigent.  And  the  audience  is  at  end 
almost  as  soon  as  it  has  begun. 

Somewhat  piqued  at  the  abruptness  of  his  dismissal,  he  takes 
his  departure,  without  the  faintest  suspicion  that  the  most 
accomplished  actress  of  the  sixteenth  century  has  been  playing 
one  of  her  many  parts.  Passing  through  the  ante-chamber,  he 
perceives,  apparently  awaiting  her  royal  mistress's  summons,  a 
demure  damsel  of  disturbing  beauty — it  is  always  the  freshest 
and  most  innocent-looking  of  the  squadron  who  is  detailed  for 
this  kind  of  service — who  modestly  lowers  her  eyes  as  they 
meet  his,  but  not  before  he  has  had  time  to  remark  that  they 
are  in  keeping  with  her  other  perfections.  Our  Huguenot,  who, 
though  he  yawns  through  a  long  sermon  each  Sunday  and 
conducts  family  worship  every  day  of  the  week,  that  is  to  say, 
when  he  does  not  happen  to  be  engaged  in  burning  his  Catholic 
neighbours'  chateaux  over  their  heads,  is  none  the  less  a  courtier 
of  beauty,  finds  himself  wondering  who  the  lady  can  be,  and 
goes  on  his  way  not  without  a  lingering  hope  that  he  may  see 
her  again. 

On  the  morrow,  he  returns.  This  time,  he  is  informed  that 
the  Queen  is  giving  audience  to  one  of  the  foreign  ambassadors, 
and  that  he  will  have  to  wait  for  a  few  minutes.  A  quarter  of 
an  hour  passes,  and  he  is  beginning  to  grow  impatient,  when  the 
damsel  whom  he  has  seen  on  the  previous  day  enters  and 
advances  to  the  door  of  the  Queen's  cabinet,  with  something 
for  her  royal  mistress  in  her  hand.  Here,  however,  she  is 
stopped  by  the  usher ;  Mademoiselle  cannot  be  allowed  to 
enter ;  her  Majesty  has  given  orders  that  she  is  on  no  account 
to  be  disturbed.  And  she,  too,  must  wait.  In  the  circumstances, 
Monsieur,  who  is,  of  course,  a  great  noble,  and  may  therefore  be 
permitted  what  in  others  might  be  considered  a  liberty,  ventures 
to  address  her.  She  answers  with  a  modesty  which  charms 
him,  and  they  converse  very  agreeably  until  presently  he  is 
summoned  to  the  royal  presence. 


23        THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   COND&S 

Here,  some  further  pretext  is  invented  for  detaining  him 
some  days  longer  at  the  Court,  but  he  resigns  himself  to  the 
delay  with  a  good  grace,  for  those  few  minutes'  conversation  in 
the  ante-chamber  have  not  been  barren  of  result.  A  few  hours 
later,  he  receives  a  courteous  note  from  Catherine,  greatly 
regretting  the  inconvenience  to  which  he  is  being  subjected  and 
inviting  him  to  a  ball  which  she  is  giving  the  following  evening. 
"  The  Religion "  looks  with  scant  favour  on  such  worldly 
pleasures,  but  he  tells  himself  that  it  would  be  churlish,  perhaps 
impolitic,  to  refuse.  Naturally,  he  meets  Mademoiselle,  arrayed 
in  a  ravishing  toilette — very  probably  a  present  from  the  Queen 
— and  looking  more  alluring  than  ever.  He  requests  to  be 
presented  to  her  ;  they  dance  together,  and  he  finds  her  as 
charming  as  she  is  beautiful.  Opportunities  for  further  meetings 
will  not  be  wanting,  for  by  this  time  the  girl  has  received  her 
instructions  from  headquarters ;  and  soon  there  will  be  no 
further  need  for  Catherine  to  devise  pretexts  for  keeping  the 
gentleman  at  Court. 

When  our  Huguenot's  partisans  learn  what  is  going  on, 
they  will  write  letter  upon  letter,  warning  him  that  an  ambush  is 
being  laid  for  him,  and  reproaching  him  with  bringing  discredit 
upon  the  Faith.  But  he  is  now  fairly  in  the  toils,  and  their 
warnings  and  reproaches  will  serve  no  purpose  save  to  irritate 
him  against  them  and  loosen  the  ties  which  bind  him  to  them. 
Perhaps,  lured  by  the  blandishments  of  his  inamorata  and 
incensed  by  the  suspicions  of  his  party,  he  will  end  by  abandon- 
ing it  altogether  ;  at  the  least,  a  breach  will  be  created  between 
them  which  will  not  be  easy  to  heal,  and  some  very  useful 
information,  which  has  escaped  his  lips  in  unguarded  moments, 
will  find  its  way  into  Catherine's  cabinet. 

It  was  thus  that  Conde's  elder  brother,  Antoine  de  Bourbon, 
King  of  Navarre,  had  met  Louise  de  la  Beraudiere,1  Demoiselle 
de  Rouet — la  belle  Rouet,  as  the  Court  called  her — in  whom 
he  found  so  refreshing  a  contrast  to  his  sharp-featured  and 
austere  consort  that  he  permitted  her  to  lead  him  whither  she, 

1  She  was  the  daughter  of  Louis  de  la  Beraudiere,  Sieur  del'  tie  Rouet,  in 
Poitou. 


LA   BELLE   ROUET  33 

or  rather  Catherine,  willed.1  She  was  the  cause  of  his  death. 
Wounded  at  the  siege  of  Rouen  and  scarcely  convalescent,  he 
called  her  to  him,  and  "  behaved  as  though  he  considered  that 
kings  were  immortal,"  with  the  result  that  might  be  expected. 

"  Cy-gist  Ie  corps  au  vers  en  proye 
Du  roy  qui  mourut  pour  la  Roye  [Rouetj. 
Cy-gist  qui  quitta  Jesus-Christ 
Pour  un  royaum  par  escript,2 
Et  sa  femme  tres  vertueuse 
Pour  une  puante  morveuse." 

So  ran  a  Huguenot  epitaph  on  the  ill-fated  Antoine.  But 
her  connexion  with  the  King  of  Navarre  did  not  prevent  la  belle 
Rouet  from  making  an  advantageous  marriage  with  Robert  de 
Gombault,  Sieur  d'Arcis-sur-1'Aube,  maitre  dlwtel  to  Charles 
IX.,  whom  she  presented  with  two  daughters. 

The  events  of  the  civil  war  had  profoundly  altered  Catherine's 
views  in  regard  to  the  two  parties  which  divided  the  kingdom. 
At  the  opening  of  hostilities,  she  had  believed  that  the 
Huguenots  possessed  the  better  chance  of  success,  and,  though 
constrained  to  lend  her  name  to  the  Catholic  leaders,  she  was 
careful  not  to  allow  herself  to  be  identified  too  closely  with  their 
objects.  But,  as  time  went  on,  it  became  evident  that,  although 
the  Huguenots  were  undoubtedly  formidable,  they  were  very 
inferior  in  numbers,  and  that  the  mass  of  the  people  were 
faithful  to  the  Old  Religion.  She  was  compelled,  therefore,  to 
recognize  that  she  had  been  mistaken,  and  that  it  would  be  very 
inadvisable  for  her  to  alienate  the  Catholic  party.  On  the  other 
hand,  it  would  be  easy  to  seize  the  direction  of  that  party,  for 
the  King  of  Navarre  and  Francois  de  Guise  were  dead,  the  sons 
of  Guise  mere  boys,  the  Cardinal  de  Bourbon  absolutely  in- 
capable, the  Montmorencies  divided  among  themselves,  and  the 
Cardinal  de  Lorraine,  deprived  of  the  support  of  his  brother,  as 
humble  as  he  had  once  been  arrogant.     She,  therefore,  decided 

1  By  the  King  of  Navarre  she  had  had  a  son,  Charles  de  Bourbon,  who  became 
Archbishop  of  Rouen. 

5  "Un  royaume  par  escript,"  means  the  illusory  kingdom  in  the  South  promised 
Antoine  by  Philip  II.  of  Spain. 
D 


34         THE  LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   COND&S 

to  place  herself  and  her  son  at  the  head  of  the  Catholics  and  to 
re-establish  unity  in  the  kingdom  by  the  ruin  of  Protestantism. 
But  she  had  no  intention  of  resorting  to  force  ;  "  she  wished  to 
undermine  the  ramparts  of  Calvinism,  not  to  carry  them  by 
assault;"1  to  take  back  little  by  little,  by  restrictive  interpretations 
of  the  Edict  of  Amboise,  the  concessions  granted  the  Reformers  ; 
to  disarm  and  dissolve  their  religious  and  military  associations  ; 
and  to  dishearten  them  by  withholding  the  protection  of  the 
Law  and  assuring  impunity  to  the  violence  of  the  Catholics. 
But,  aware  that  her  task  would  be  immensely  facilitated  if  she 
could  begin  by  depriving  them  of  their  protectors  in  high  places, 
she  was  determined  to  leave  no  means  untried  to  seduce  or 
discredit  the  Huguenot  chiefs,  and  particularly  Conde* — the  first 
Prince  of  the  Blood,  the  link  between  the  noble  and  democratic 
sections  of  the  party,  the  man  whom  she  half-suspected  of 
aspiring  to  the  throne. 

From  the  time  of  the  Peace  of  Amboise,  it  was  easy  for 
Catherine  to  perceive  that  Conde,  who  had  just  consented  to 
such  important  modifications  of  the  "  Edict  of  January,"  was 
unlikely  henceforth  to  show  himself  a  very  zealous  champion  of 
Protestantism,  and  that  a  considerable  section  of  the  Huguenots 
was  disposed  to  question  the  seriousness  of  his  conversion  and 
the  sincerity  of  his  devotion  to  their  cause.  She  knew,  too, 
that  if,  on  the  one  hand,  Conde  aspired,  as  a  Prince  of  the 
Blood,  to  play  a  prominent  part  in  affairs  of  State,  and  was 
ambitious  to  secure  the  title  of  Lieutenant-General  of  the 
Kingdom,  he  would  be,  as  a  man,  eager  to  compensate  himself 
for  the  ennui  of  his  recent  captivity  by  a  round  of  pleasure  and 
dissipation. 

At  first,  Catherine's  attitude  towards  Conde*  was  everything 
that  he  could  possibly  desire  ;  she  overwhelmed  him  with  atten- 
tions ;  consulted  him  constantly  on  public  affairs,  and  showed 
for  his  opinion  a  deference  which  delighted  him.  But  all  this 
was  merely  intended  to  put  him  off  his  guard  and  foster  the 
pleasing  illusions  which  he  had  entertained  since  the  conference 
on  the  Ile-aux-Boeufs.  For,  so  far  from  having  any  intention 
1  Henri  Martin,  "  Histoirc  de  France  jusqu'en  1789," 


ISABELLE   DE   LIMEUIL  35 

of  sharing  the  direction  of  affairs  with  the  prince,  she  had  deter- 
mined to  detach  him  from  his  alliances  with  the  foreign  Protes- 
tants, compromise  him  with  his  own  party,  and  reduce  him  to 
political  impotence.  And,  to  accomplish  this  she  proposed  to 
deal  with  him  as  she  had  dealt  with  his  unfortunate  brother, 
the  King  of  Navarre,  by  encouraging  his  taste  for  those  sensual 
pleasures  which  the  most  dissolute  Court  in  Europe  offered  so 
many  opportunities  of  gratifying. 

To  dominate  Conde,  Catherine  had  in  reserve  an  auxiliary 
not  less  redoubtable  than  la  belle  Rouet  It  was  Isabelle  de 
Limeuil,  one  of  the  two  maids-of-honour  whom  she  had  brought 
to  the  Ile-aux-Bceufs,  and  who  had  already  made  a  very 
favourable  impression  upon  the  inflammable  prince. 

Isabelle  was  a  member  of  a  branch  of  the  House  of  La 
Tour  d'Auvergne,  to  which  Madeleine  de  la  Tour,  the  mother 
of  Catherine  de'  Medici,  had  belonged,  and  was  therefore  a 
kinswoman  of  the  Queen-Mother.1  She  was  a  blond,  with 
beautiful  blue  eyes  and  a  dazzling  complexion,  in  figure  some- 
what thin,  but  exquisitely  formed.  She  had  been  well-educated, 
was  extremely  intelligent  and  possessed  of  a  mordant  wit, 
which  she  used  freely  at  the  expense  of  those  admirers  who  did 
not  suit  her  fancy,  not  sparing  even  the  most  exalted  personages. 
Brantome  relates  how,  one  day  during  the  siege  of  Rouen,  she 
rebuffed  the  old  Connetable  de  Montmorency,  whose  bitter 
tongue  was  dreaded  by  all  the  Court.  The  Constable,  who,  in 
spite  of  his  age  and  gravity,  did  not  disdain  an  occasional 
amourette,  attempted  to  make  love  to  her  and  addressed  her,  in 
anticipation,  as  "  his  mistress."  She  replied  tartly  that,  if  he 
supposed  he  would  ever  have  the  right  to  address  her  thus,  he 
was  greatly  mistaken,  and  promptly  turned  her  back  on  him. 
Little  accustomed  to  such  a  rebuff,  the  old  gentleman  took  his 
departure,  decidedly  crestfallen.  "  My  mistress,"  said  he,  "  I 
leave  you  ;  you  snub  me  cruelly."  "  Which  is  quite  fitting," 
she  retorted,  "since  you  are  accustomed  to  snub  everybody  else." 

1  Isabelle's  father,  Gilles  de  la  Tour,  Sieur  de  Limeuil,  was  the  second  son  of 
Antoine  de  la  Tour,  Vicomte  de  Turenne.  From  Gilles's  elder  brother,  Francois, 
sprang,  in  the  fifth  generation,  the  celebrated  Marechal  de  Turenne. 


36         THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF   THE   COND&S 

Her  soupirants  were  legion,  and  included  the  Due  d'Aumale  ; 
Florimond  Robertet,  Sieur  du  Fresne,  one  of  his  Majesty's 
Secretaries  of  State;1  Charles  de  la  Marck,  Comte  de  Mau- 
levrier  ;  Claude  de  la  Chatre,  afterwards  marechal  de  France ; 
Brantome  and  Ronsard,  one  of  whose  most  charming  chansons 
she  inspired : 

"  Quand  ce  beau  printemps  je  voy, 

J'apercoy 
Rajeunir  la  terre  et  l'onde, 
Et  me  semble  que  le  jour 

Et  l'amour 
Comme  enfans  naissent  au  monde. 

Quand  le  soleil  tout  riant 

D'Orient 
Nous  monstre  sa  blonde  tresse, 
II  me  semble  que  je  voy 

Devant  moy 
Lever  ma  belle  maistresse. 

Quand  je  sens,  parmi  les  prez 

Diaprez, 
Les  fleurs  dont  la  terre  est  pleine, 
Lors  je  fais  croire  a  mes  sens 

Que  je  sens 
La  douceur  de  son  haleine. 

Je  voudrois,  au  bruit  de  l'eau 

D'un  ruisseau, 
Desplier  ses  tresses  blondes, 
Frizant  en  autant  de  nceus 

Ses  cheveux 
Que  je  verrois  frizer  d'ondes. 

Je  voudrois,  pour  la  tenir, 

Devenir 
Dieu  des  ces  forests  desertes 
La  baisant  autant  de  fois 

Qu'en  un  bois 
II  y  a  de  feuilles  vertes." 

With   the   exception   of  Du  Fresne,   who   passed   for  her 

amant  de  cceur%  it  is  doubtful  if  any  of  the  gentlemen  we  have 

named  ever  saw  his  hopes  materialize,  for  the  fair  Isabelle  was 

1  He  must  not  be  confused  with  his  cousin,  Florimond  Robertet,  Sieur  d'Alluye, 
who  was  also  a  Secretary  of  State. 


CONDfi  AND   ISABELLE  37 

exceedingly  fastidious.  Moreover,  she  appears  to  have  been 
one  of  those  sirens  who  have  a  nice  appreciation  of  the  com- 
mercial value  of  their  charms,  and  who  not  only  set  an  exalted 
price  upon  their  favours,  but  do  not  scruple  to  discount  it  in 
advance  and  subsequently  decline  to  meet  their  obligations. 
"  Monseigneur,"  writes  she  to  the  Due  d'Aumale,  in  a  letter 
appealing  to  his  benevolence,  "  if  you  have  not  discovered  how 
much  I  desired  to  do  the  thing  which  was  agreeable  to  you,  it 
was  not  because  you  had  not  the  means,  but  the  will."  * 

Isabelle  lent  herself  the  more  readily  to  Catherine's  plans, 
since  the  mission  confided  to  her  was  one  in  which  her  inclina- 
tion happened  to  harmonize  with  her  interests.  For  she  seems 
to  have  been  attracted  from  the  first  by  this  good-humoured 
little  man,  with  his  pleasant  face  and  his  laughing  eyes,  who 
danced  so  gracefully,  paid  such  pretty  compliments  to  the 
ladies,  and,  notwithstanding  his  lack  of  inches,  could  hold  his  own 
in  manly  exercises  with  any  gentleman  at  the  Court.  And, 
besides,  he  was  a  Prince  of  the  Blood  and  one  of  the  bravest 
captains  in  France ;  and  his  narrow  escape  from  the  scaffold 
three  years  before,  his  exploits  in  the  field,  and  his  recent 
captivity,  all  of  which  naturally  made  a  powerful  appeal  to 
ladies  of  a  romantic  disposition,  had  greatly  enhanced  the 
favour  with  which  he  had  always  been  regarded  by  the  opposite 
sex,  many  of  whom  would  have  been  only  too  willing  to  accept 
him  as  a  "  serviteur." 

As  for  Conde,  flattered  by  the  preference  of  a  young  beauty 
for  whom  some  of  the  most  fascinating  gallants  of  the  Court 
had  sighed  in  vain,  he  never  paused  to  consider  how  far  this 
bonne  fortune  was  due  to  his  own  attractions,  but  plunged  into 
it  with  the  same  impetuosity  with  which  on  the  battlefield  he 
threw  himself  into  the  thick  of  the  enemy's  squadrons.  He 
promised  himself  merely  an  agreeable  adventure  ;  he  found  one 
of  those  entanglements  from  which  it  is  a  difficult  matter  to 
escape. 

Isabelle  de  Limeuil  was  very  soon  afforded  an  opportunity 

1  La  Ferriere,  "  Trois  amoureuses  au  xvi9  siccle." 


38         THE  LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE  COND&S 

of  putting  the  devotion  which  her  royal  admirer  professed  for 
her  to  the  test. 

Coligny  and  the  Huguenot  stalwarts  had  not  been  the  only 
allies  whom  Conde  had  offended  in  accepting  the  conditions 
imposed  by  the  Court  in  the  Peace  of  Amboise.  It  will  be 
remembered  that  an  article  in  the  Treaty  of  Hampton  Court 
had  stipulated  that  the  English  were  to  retain  possession  of 
Le  Havre  and  Dieppe;  until  Calais  had  been  restored  to  them. 
Now,  Conde  had  never  officially  ratified  the  engagements  that 
the  Vidame  de  Chartres  had  undertaken  in  his  name ;  indeed, 
he  pretended  to  be  unaware  of  their  full  import ;  and  had  he 
ever  been  so  desirous  of  it,  it  would  have  been  impossible  for 
him  to  have  made  the  immediate  restoration  of  Calais,  or  the 
continued  retention  of  Le  Havre  by  the  English  as  a  lien  upon 
that  town,  a  condition  of  peace.  As  an  English  historian  very 
justly  remarks,  such  a  proposal  would  have  "  enlisted  the  pride 
of  France  against  himself  and  his  cause  and  have  identified 
religious  freedom  with  national  degradation."  x  When,  there- 
fore, on  his  return  to  Orleans  after  the  conference  on  the  Ile- 
aux-Bceufs,  he  wrote  to  inform  Elizabeth  of  what  was  taking 
place,  he  said  not  a  word  about  Calais,  but  boldly  assumed  that 
her  Majesty's  motives  in  coming  to  the  assistance  of  the 
Huguenots  had  been  entirely  disinterested,  and  that,  since 
liberty  of  conscience  was  on  the  point  of  being  secured,  there 
was  no  longer  any  occasion  for  continuing  the  war.  "  Now, 
Madame,"  he  wrote,  "  you  will  let  it  be  known  that  none  other 
reason  than  simply  your  zeal  for  the  protection  of  the  faithful 
who  desire  the  preaching  of  the  pure  Gospel  induced  you  to 
favour  our  cause."  2 

Elizabeth,  however,  cared  very  little  for  the  protection  of 
the  faithful  in  comparison  with  Calais,  and  she  wrote  the  prince 
a  very  angry  letter,  in  which  she  called  upon  him  to  fulfil  his 
promise  and  bade  him  beware  "  how  he  set  an  example  of 
perfidy  to  the  world."     Her  remonstrances,  however,  produced 

1  J.  A.  Froude,  "History  of  England,"  vol.  vii. 

-  Conde  to  Elizabeth,  8  March,  1563,  in  the  Due  d'Anmale,  "  Histoire  des 
Princes  de  Conde." 


COND&  AND  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  39 

no  effect,  and  immediately  after  the  signing  of  the  Peace,  in 
accordance  with  an  article  which  stipulated  that  the  foreign 
auxiliaries  on  both  sides  should  be  sent  home,  the  Earl  of 
Warwick  received  notice  that  he  was  expected  to  withdraw  from 
Le  Havre. 

This,  however,  Elizabeth  firmly  declined  to  allow  him  to  do. 
In  vain,  Conde"  wrote,  offering  her,  in  the  name  of  himself,  the 
Regent,  and  the  entire  nobility  of  France,  to  renew  formally 
and  solemnly  the  clause  in  the  Treaty  of  Cateau-Cambresis  for 
the  restoration  of  Calais  in  1567,  to  repay  the  money  which  she 
had  advanced  the  Huguenots,  and  to  remove  all  restrictions 
upon  English  trade  with  France.  In  vain,  he  despatched 
envoys  to  explain  his  position  and  to  reason  with  her.  In  vain, 
the  young  King  wrote  himself,  offering  the  ratification  of  the 
treaty,  with  "  hostages  at  her  choice  "  for  its^fulfilment  from  the 
noblest  families  in  France.  Bitterly  mortified  at  having  been 
outwitted  in  a  transaction  from  which  she  had  intended  to  reap 
all  the  advantage,  she  would  listen  to  no  terms.  The  Prince  de 
Conde,  she  declared,  was  "  a  treacherous,  inconstant,  perjured 
villain,"  with  whom  she  desired  to  have  no  dealings ;  she 
required  Calais  delivered  over  to  her  and  her  money  paid  down, 
and  until  she  had  obtained  both,  Le  Havre  should  remain  in  her 
hands. 

Catherine  de'  Medici  had  viewed  with  complacency  the  ob- 
stinacy of  the  English  Queen.  Although  the  reduction  of  Le 
Havre,  a  place  which  could  easily  be  revictualled  from  the  sea 
and  which  had  been  furnished  during  the  English  occupation 
with  new  defences,  might  prove  a  formidable  undertaking,  she 
had  no  doubt  of  success  ;  and  she  preferred  (recovering  it  by 
conquest  to  seeing  it  amicably  restored,  since  she  would  then 
be  at  liberty  to  retain  Calais.  Moreover,  if  Conde  could  be 
brought  to  turn  against  Elizabeth  the  army  which  her  own 
money  had  assisted  him  to  raise,  and  to  take  part  in  the  war  in 
person,  an  irremediable  breach  would  be  created  between  them, 
and  she  would  have  nothing  more  to  fear  from  English  inter- 
vention. 

Inspired  by  Catherine,  Isabelle  de  Limeuil  employed  all  her 


40         THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   CONDES 

persuasions  to  induce  the  prince  to  break  with  England ;  but, 
great  as  was  the  empire  which  she  already  exercised  over  Conde, 
and  deeply  incensed  as  the  latter  was  by  the  tone  of  Elizabeth's 
letters,  and  still  more  by  the  contemptuous  manner  in  which  she 
had  spoken  of  him,  he  still  remained  undecided.  There  was  no 
blinking  the  fact  that,  however  great  the  difference  between  her 
promises  and  her  performances,  and  however  selfish  her  motives, 
the  Queen  had  rendered  the  Huguenots  material  assistance  in 
the  late  war  ;  and  Coligny  and  Andelot  had  so  well  recognized 
this  that,  while  warmly  approving  of  the  refusal  to  surrender 
Calais,  they  had  declined  to  bear  arms  against  her.  Conde  was 
unwilling  to  show  himself  less  scrupulous  than  they  ;  and,  besides, 
he  had,  while  at  Orleans,  solemnly  assured  the  English  envoy  that 
M  his  sword  should  never  cut  against  the  Queen's  Majesty."  1 

He,  therefore,  urged  Catherine  to  make  a  final  endeavour  to 
effect  a  peaceful  settlement.  Very  reluctantly,  she  consented, 
and,  towards  the  end  of  May,  the  Sieur  d'Alluye  was  despatched 
to  London  with  fresh  propositions.  D'Alluye  was  a  young  man 
of  thirty,  ignorant,  conceited,  and  presumptuous ;  in  fact,  if  it 
had  been  Catherine's  intention — which  it  probably  was — to 
wound  the  pride  of  Elizabeth  and  provoke  a  new  and  humiliat- 
ing refusal,  she  could  not  have  made  a  better  choice.  Conde 
having  requested  that  his  confidant  La  Haye  should  be  joined 
to  d'Alluye,  the  Regent  readily  consented,  well  aware  that  a 
refusal  transmitted  through  him  would  only  have  the  more 
weight.  Everything  fell  out  precisely  as  might  have  been  fore- 
seen. After  several  acrimonious  conferences  with  the  English 
Ministers,  in  which  d'Alluye  "showed  nothing  but  pride  and 
ignorance," 2  that  gentleman  haughtily  informed  the  Queen, 
that  "  he  had  no  commission  to  treat  of  Calais  ;  his  charge  was 
only  to  demand  Newhaven  [Le  Havre]."  3  Elizabeth  lost  her 
temper,  and,  red  with  anger,  replied  that,  in  occupying  Le  Havre, 
she  had  had  no  other  purpose  than  to  avenge  the  honour  of 
England,  which  had  been  compromised  by  the  loss  of  Calais. 

This  frank  avowal  stung  the  national  pride  of  the  French  to 

1  Micldlemore  to  Cecil,  30  March,  1563. 
2  Cecil  to  Smith,  4  June,  1563.  s  Ibid. 


THE  SIEGE  OF  LE   HAVRE  41 

the  quick  ;  from  the  Channel  to  the  Pyrenees  the  universal  cry 
was  "  Vive  la  France?  and  Catholics  and  Huguenots,  moved  by 
a  common  impulse,  pressed  into  the  army  which  was  being 
mobilized  to  wrest  Le  Havre  from  the  grip  of  the  English. 
Catherine  adroitly  seized  the  occasion  to  renew,  through 
Isabelle  de  Limeuil,  her  importunities  ;  the  last  scruples  of 
Conde  were  overcome,  and  on  19  June  the  English  envoy 
Middlemore,  who,  on  the  pretext  of  facilitating  communications 
between  Conde  and  Elizabeth,  had  been  charged  by  the  latter 
to  attend  the  prince  everywhere,  writes  to  Cecil :  "  The  incon- 
stancy and  miserableness  of  this  Prince  of  Cond6  is  so  great, 
having  both  forgotten  God  and  his  own  honour,  as  that  he  hath 
suffered  himself  to  be  won  by  the  Q.[ueen]  mother  to  go 
against  her  Majesty  at  Newhaven  [Le  Havre],  and  for  the 
present  is  the  person  that,  above  all  others,  doth  most  solicit 
them  of  the  Religion  to  serve  in  these  wars  against  her  Majesty." 
And  he  adds  that  the  prince,  "  specially  desiring  now  to  have 
every  man  to  show  himself  as  wicked  as  he,  hath  sent  for  the 
Admiral  and  M.  Andelot,  his  brother,  to  come  to  the  Court  out 
of  hand,  where,  being  once  arrived,  they  think  to  prevail  with 
them  as  to  win  them  to  like  and  take  in  hand  the  said  enter- 
prise."    Isabelle  de  Limeuil  had  served  Catherine  well. 

A  few  days  later,  Conde  having  courteously  desired  Middle- 
more,  who  continued  tostick  to  him  like  a  burr,  "to  retire  himself," 
joined  the  army  before  Le  Havre,  where  operations  had  already 
begun.  The  garrison  had  promised  Elizabeth  that  "the  Lord 
Warwick  and  all  his  people  would  spend  the  last  drop  of  their 
blood  before  the  French  should  fasten  a  foot  in  the  town "  ; 
but,  unhappily,  they  had  an  enemy  to  contend  with  within  the 
walls  infinitely  more  formidable  than  the  one  without — an 
enemy  whom  no  skill  could  outwit  and  no  courage  repel.  In 
the  first  days  of  June,  the  plague  broke  out  among  them, 
and,  pent  up  in  the  narrow,  fetid  streets,  the  soldiers  died  like 
flies.  By  the  end  of  the  month,  out  of  seven  thousand  men 
who  had  formed  the  original  garrison,  but  three  thousand  were 
fit  for  duty  ;  and   by  1 1  July  only  fifteen  hundred  were  left. 

1  J.  A.  Froude,   "History  of  England." 


42         THE  LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   COND&S 

Reinforcements  were  hurried  across  the  Channel,  only  to 
sicken  and  die  in  their  turn  ;  a  south-westerly  gale  drove  the 
English  ships  from  the  coast,  and  the  French  succeeded  in 
closing  the  harbour,  so  that  soon  famine  was  added  to 
pestilence. 

Elizabeth,  alarmed  by  the  disastrous  news  from  Le  Havre, 
began  to  repent  of  her  obstinacy,  and  offered  to  accept  the 
terms  which  she  had  so  indignantly  rejected.  But  it  was  now 
too  late ;  the  French,  well  aware  of  the  condition  of  the 
garrison,  refused  to  reopen  the  negotiations,  and  on  27  July, 
just  as  the  besiegers,  who  had  already  made  two  breaches  in 
the  defences,  were  preparing  for  a  general  attack,  Warwick, 
who,  the  previous  evening,  had  received  permission  from  the 
Queen  to  surrender  at  the  last  extremity,  offered  to  capitulate. 
Terms  were  soon  arranged,  and  on  the  29th  the  town  was 
restored  to  France,  and  the  remnant  of  its  brave  defenders 
sailed  for  England,  carrying  with  them  the  plague,  which  they 
spread  far  and  wide  through  the  land. 

After  long  negotiations,  peace  was  finally  concluded  at 
Troyes,'in  April  1564.  Elizabeth  lost  all  her  rights  over  Calais, 
and  had  to  content  herself  with  a  sum  of  120,000  crowns,  as 
the  price  of  the  freedom  of  the  French  hostages.  Although  she 
on  more  than  one  occasion  pressed  Conde"  and  Coligny  for  the 
repayment  of  the  money  she  had  advanced  the  Huguenots, 
she  does  not  appear  to  have  succeeded  in  recovering  any  part 
of  it. 


CHAPTER   IV 

Conde  is  disappointed  in  his  hopes  of  obtaining  the  post  of  Lieutenant- 
General  of  the  Kingdom — The  prince  incurs  the  hatred  of  the  extreme 
Catholics — Plot  to  assassinate  him  on  the  Feast  of  Corpus  Christi — Suspicion 
with  which  he  is  regarded  by  the  zealots  of  his  own  party — Conde",  deceived 
in  his  ambition  and  mortified  by  the  hostility  of  the  extremists  on  both 
sides,  turns  to  pleasure  for  consolation — Violent  passion  of  the  Mare'chale 
de  Saint-Andre"  for  him — Indignation  and  alarm  aroused  at  Geneva  by  the 
rumours  of  Conde's  amorous  adventures — Calvin  and  Beze  address  a  joint 
letter  of  remonstrance  to  the  prince — Conde  at  Muret — Death  of  two  of 
his  children — Failing  health  of  the  Princesse  de  Conde" — Her  touching 
devotion  to  her  husband— Her  dignified  attitude  in  regard  to  his  infidelities 
— Return  of  Conde"  to  the  Court — Quarrel  between  him  and  Isabelle  de 
Limeuil — Temporary  triumph  of  the  Mare'chale  de  Saint-Andre — Refusal  of 
the  King  to  sanction  the  betrothal  of  the  Marquis  de  Contito  Mile,  de  Saint- 
Andre" — Conde"  quits  the  Court  in  anger,  but  is  reconciled  to  Isabelle  and 
returns — A  second  honeymoon. 

AFTER  having  broken  definitely  with  his  former  allies, 
and  even  borne  arms  against  them  in  person,  Conde 
looked  to  receive  from  the  hands  of  the  Queen-Mother 
the  post  of  Lieutenant-General  of  the  Kingdom,  which  Catherine 
appears  to  have  given  him  to  understand  would  be  the  reward 
of  his  compliance  with  her  wishes.  But  her  Majesty,  though 
she  complimented  him  warmly  on  the  courage  he  had  displayed 
during  the  siege,  had  not  the  smallest  intention  of  sharing  with 
the  prince  the  power  of  which  she  was  so  jealous  ;  and,  by  causing 
the  Parlement  of  Rouen  to  proclaim  the  majority  of  Charles 
IX.,  who  had  just  entered  his  fourteenth  year,  she  adroitly 
contrived  to  reduce  to  nothing  all  pretension  on  his  part  to  the 
coveted  title  and  to  retain  the  sovereign  authority  in  her  own 
hands. 

The  discovery  that  he  had  been  the  dupe  of  his  ambition  was 
not  the  only  mortification  which  Conde"  had  to  endure.  If  he  were 
at  bottom  but  a  lukewarm  adherent  of  the  Reformed  Faith,  if 

43 


44         THE  LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   COND&5 

in  the  negotiations  which  had  preceded  the  Peace  of  Amboise 
he  had  been  not  unmindful  of  his  own  interests,  he  was  none 
the  less  sincerely  anxious  that  the  rights  guaranteed  to  the 
Protestants  by  that  treaty  should  be  observed ;  and  his 
persistence  in  defending  them  drew  upon  him  the  hatred  of  the 
extreme  Catholics.  So  exasperated,  indeed,  were  the  fanatical 
Parisians  against  him  that  for  some  months  his  friends  considered 
it  unsafe  for  him  to  appear  in  the  capital,  even  in  the  suite  of 
the  King,  and  on  one  occasion  when  he  did  venture  there,  he 
narrowly  escaped  being  assassinated. 

In  one  of  his  despatches  to  Cecil,  Middlemore  gives  the 
following  account  of  the  affair  : — 

"  On  the  9th  inst,  the  King  went  from  Bois  de  Vincennes  to 
Paris,  as  well  to  keep  the  people  from  sedition  as  to  assist  at  the 
Feast  of  Corpus  Christi,  which  was  the  next  day.  Conde  (who 
had  refused  to  go  thither)  was  won  to  accompany  him,  and  on 
the  morrow  brought  him  to  Our  Lady  Church,1  where  he  left  him 
at  the  door,  without  entering.  These  ceremonies  passed,  the 
King,  about  7  p.m.,  came  back  to  bed  to  Bois  de  Vincennes, 
accompanied  by  his  mother  and  the  Prince.  As  they  passed 
the  town-gates,2  they  found  600  horsemen,  well-armed  and 
mounted,  who  were  assembled  to  slay  the  Prince  and  all  his,  if 
they  could  have]  taken  him  out  of  the  presence  of  the  King ; 
but  perceiving  the  King,  they  divided  themselves  on  both 
sides  of  the  way,  and  suffered  him  to  pass  quietly,  on  whose 
right  hand  at  that  time  the  Prince  was,  and  the  Queen-Mother 
on  his  left.  The  Princess,  his  wife,  coming  in  her  coach  a  little 
after,  was  assailed  by  them,  and  would  have  been  murdered  had 
not  the  cochier  bestirred  himself;  and  such  gentlemen  as  were 
about  her  cried  to  them  that  it  was  not  the  Princess  of  Conde, 
but  the  Queen's  maids,  which  kept  them  from  shooting  their 
pistols  at  her,  having  them  ready  bent,  until  they  overtook  the 
King,  in  whose  presence  (when  they  saw  that  they  had  failed  of 
the  Prince  and  Princess)  they  killed  a  captain  of  the  Prince 3  at 
the  side  of  his  wife's  coach,  and  took  five  or  six  of  his  gentlemen 

1  Notre-Dame.  "  The  Porte  Saint-Antoine. 

3  The  name  of  the  unfortunate  gentleman  was  Couppe. 


CONDE   AND    HIS   PARTY  45 

prisoners,  and  retired.  This  outrage  is  greatly  stomached  by 
the  Prince,  who  has  since  been  assured  that  some  of  the 
House  of  Guise  did  '  dress '  him  this  party ;  and  therefore  he 
told  the  Queen,  before  the  whole  Council,  that  he  will  not  tarry 
in  the  Court  unless  the  whole  House  of  Guise  retire  from  thence  ; 
and  so  has  desired  her  to  consider  which  of  them  shall  do  the 
King  better  service,  and  that  the  others  may  be  commanded 
forthwith  to  dislodge." x 

On  the  other  hand,  the  zealots  of  Cond6's  own  party,  who  had 
so  bitterly  denounced  the  Peace,  could  not  forgive  his  want  of 
enthusiasm,  nor  the  very  plain  language  in  which  he  rebuked 
their  insulting  behaviour  towards  the  Catholics  in  those  districts 
in  which  the  latter  happened  to  be  in  a  minority.  They  accused 
him  of  "  swimming  betwixt  two  waters,"  "  of  playing  the  Machia- 
velli,"  and  of  seeking  to  use  both  parties  for  his  own  ends.3  "  In 
their  eyes,"  observes  the  Due  d'Aumale,  "his  desire  for  the 
maintenance  of  peace  was  nothing  but  the  indifference  of  gratified 
ambition,  or  the  forgetfulness  of  duty  amidst  the  intoxication  of 
pleasure."  3 

1  Middlemore  to  Cecil,  17  June,  1563,  State  Papers  (Elizabeth),  Foreign  Series. 
The  denoilment  of  this  affair  is  a  singular  illustration  of  the  impotence  or  unwilling- 
ness of  the  Law  to  punish  crimes  committed  against  the  Protestants  by  the  ferocious 
rabble  of  the  capital. 

On  the  day  following  the  outrage,  the  King  sent  for  the  Provost  of  the  Merchants 
and  ordered  him  to  bring  the  murderers  to  justice,  under  pain  of  answering  for  them 
himself,  adding  that  "if  any  more  of  such  insolences  were  done  in  Paris,  he  would 
send  the  four  marshals  of  France  there  to  see  better  order  kept."  The  provost, 
trembling  in  his  shoes,  returned  home,  and,  next  day,  the  authorities  caused  one 
Gamier,  a  captain  of  the  city  militia,  and  another  person  to  be  arrested,  on  suspicion 
of  being  concerned  in  the  crime.  Whereupon  "  the  rest  of  the  captains  and  lieutenants 
of  Paris  gathered  themselves  together  to  4000  or  5000,  and  made  such  ado  that  they 
were  glad  to  let  them  go."  No  further  attempt  to  execute  justice  was  made,  nor  could 
the  authorities  even  secure  decent  burial  for  the  murdered  gentleman.  By  a  decree  of 
the  Chatelet,  the  body  was  ordered  to  be  interred  in  the  cemetery  of  the  Innocents, 
together  with  that  of  an  unknown  Huguenot,  "whom  also  on  the  Thursday,  in  the 
worship  of  that  holy  day,  the  Parisians  had  sacrificed  and,  after  their  manner,  thrown 
into  the  water  (the  Seine).  But  certain  women  and  boys  (for  they  are  now  the  judges 
and  executioners  of  Paris)  digged  them  up  again  ;  which  being  known,  to  avoid  danger 
they  were  buried  there  again  by  the  watch,  and  were  again  unburied,  and  no  man 
knows  what  is  done  with  them." — "Journal  of  Sir  Thomas  Smith,"  State  Papers 
(Elizabeth),  Foreign  Series. 

2  Smith  to  Cecil,  22  May,  1563.  3  "  Histoire  des  Princes  de  Conde." 


46         THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   CONDfiS 

If  Conde's  efforts  on  behalf  of  his  co-religionists  should  have 
sheltered  him  from  such  accusations,  his  private  life,  it  must  be 
admitted,  was  very  far  from  being  in  accordance  with  the  austere 
religion  which  he  professed,  and  was  calculated  to  arouse  grave 
apprehensions  among  the  Protestants.  Deceived  in  his  ambition, 
mortified  by  the  hostility  which  his  well-intentioned  efforts  had 
been  received  by  the  extremists  of  both  parties,  he  had  turned  to 
pleasure  for  consolation  and  surrendered  himself  unreservedly  to 
all  the  temptations  of  that  gay  and  dissolute  Court.  His  days 
were  passed  in  the  hunting-field,  the  tennis-court,  and  the  tilt- 
yard  ;  his  nights  at  the  ball,  the  play,  or  the  card-table,  and  often 
in  more  questionable  amusements.  Grave  Huguenots  who  came 
to  lay  their  grievances  before  him  were  indignant  to  find  the 
chief  of  their  party,  who  should  have  been  occupying  himself 
with  the  interests  of  religion  and  setting  an  example  of  godly 
living  to  those  about  him,  mingling  in  all  the  profane  diversions 
of  the  Court,  as  though  he  had  not  a  care  in  the  world,  and  in- 
expressibly shocked  to  learn  that  he  was  forgetting  his  devoted 
wife  in  the  embraces  of  "  Midianitish  women." 

For  Isabelle  de  Limeuil,  if  she  occupied  the  premier  place  in 
Conde's  affections,  could  not  claim  a  monopoly  of  them.  His 
Highness,  in  point  of  fact,  disdained  few  bonnes  fortunes,  and  the 
complaisant  beauties  of  Catherine's  Court  were  generally  ready 
to  meet  the  advances  of  the  first  Prince  of  the  Blood  a  good  deal 
more  than  halfway. 

Among  those  who  entered  the  lists  against  Isabelle,  the  most 
redoubtable  was  Marguerite  de  Lustrac,  the  widow  of  the 
unfortunate  Marechal  de  Saint-Andre,  so  foully  slain  at  Dreux. 
Although  no  longer  in  her  first  youth,  Madame  la  Marechale 
was  still  one  of  the  most  beautiful  and  fascinating  women  at 
the  Court — "  la  Marguerite  de  douceur," 1  a  contemporary 
writer  calls  her.  She  was  also  extremely  wealthy  and  gave 
herself  the  airs  of  a  queen,  being  always  attended  by  an 
immense  retinue,  which  included  cadets  of  the  noblest  families 
in  France. 

Feeling  the  need  of  consolation  in  her  bereavement,  the  lady 
1  Francois  Billon.  "  le  Fort  inexpugnable  de  1'honneur  feminin."     Paris,  1555. 


CONDE   SCANDALIZES   GENEVA  47 

cast  a  favourable  eye  in  the  direction  of  Conde,  and,  piqued  by 
his  indifference — he  was  just  then  in  the  middle  of  his  honey- 
moon with  Isabelle — soon  conceived  for  him  the  most  violent 
passion.  Since  sighs  and  languishing  glances  did  not  suffice  to 
bring  him  to  her  side,  she  resolved  to  have  recourse  to  other 
means.  By  the  Marechal  de  Saint-Andre  she  had  had  a 
daughter,  who  was  one  of  the  greatest  heiresses  in  France.  This 
daughter  had  for  some  time  past  been  destined  for  the  young 
Henri  de  Lorraine,  who,  by  the  tragic  death  of  his  father,  had 
now  become  Due  de  Guise,  and  she  had  even  been  confided  to 
the  care  of  the  widowed  duchess.  But,  the  marechale,  having 
decided  that  the  surest  means  of  subjugating  Conde  was  to 
appeal  to  his  interests,  suddenly  demanded  that  her  daughter 
should  be  sent  back  to  her,  repudiated  her  engagements  with 
the  Guises,  and  offered  the  girl  to  the  prince,  for  his  eldest  son, 
Henri,  Marquis  de  Conti,  now  twelve  years  old. 

The  prospect  of  an  alliance  which  would  not  only  bring 
great  wealth  into  his  family,  but  inflict  a  cruel  humiliation  on  the 
hated  Guises  was  naturally  very  favourably  received  by  Conde, 
and  the  enamoured  marechale  did  not  fail  to  take  full  advantage 
of  the  frequent  interviews  between  her  and  the  object  of  her 
passion  which  the  affair,  of  course,  necessitated.  Nevertheless, 
she  did  not  succeed  in  weaning  the  Prince  from  Isabelle,  and 
had  to  rest  content  with  the  few  crumbs  of  affection  which  he 
condescended  to  bestow  upon  her. 

Rumours  of  his  Highness's  amorous  adventures  were  not 
long  in  reaching  Geneva,  where  they  aroused  both  indignation 
and  alarm.  Had  the  delinquent  been  a  less  exalted  personage, 
he  would  probably  have  been  straightway  excommunicated  ; 
but  Calvin  and  Beze,  though  exasperated  by  the  carelessness 
with  which  he  was  compromising  their  common  cause,  knew  very 
well  that  the  first  Prince  of  the  Blood  was  an  asset  with  which 
the  party  could  not  possibly  dispense.  They  knew,  too,  that 
his  amour-propre  had  already  been  deeply  wounded  by  the 
reproaches  that  had  been  addressed  to  him  at  the  time  of  the 
Peace  of  Amboise,  and  that  it  was  necessary  to  spare  his  feelings 
as  much  as  possible ;  and,  accordingly,  contented  themselves  by 


48         THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS  OF  THE  CONDES 

addressing  to  him,  in  the  name  of  their  afflicted  Church,  a  letter 
of  remonstrance,  couched  in  studiously  moderate  terms : 

MONSEIGNEUR, 

We  cannot  forbear  to  beseech  you  not  only  to  use 
your  endeavours  in  the  cause  of  Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  for  the 
advancement  of  the  Gospel  and  for  the  security  and  repose  of 
the  poor  faithful,  but  also  to  show  in  your  whole  life  that  you 
have  profited  by  the  doctrines  of  salvation,  and  to  let  your 
example  be  such  as  to  edify  the  good  and  to  close  the  mouths 
of  all  slanderers.  For  in  proportion  as  you  are  conspicuous 
from  afar  in  so  exalted  a  position,  ought  you  to  be  on  your 
guard  lest  they  should  find  any  fault  in  you.  You  cannot 
doubt,  Monseigneur,  that  we  love  your  honour  as  we  desire 
your  salvation  ;  and  we  should  be  traitors  were  we  to  conceal 
from  you  the  rumours  that  are  in  circulation  concerning  you. 
We  do  not  suppose  that  there  is  any  direct  offence  to  God ;  but 
when  it  is  reported  to  us  that  you  make  love  to  ladies,  your 
authority  and  reputation  are  seriously  prejudiced.  Good  people 
will  be  scandalized  thereby ;  the  evil-disposed  will  make  it  a 
subject  of  mockery.  It  involves  a  distraction  which  hinders 
and  retards  you  from  attending  to  your  duty.  There  must 
even  be  some  mundane  vanity  in  it ;  and  it  becomes  you,  above 
all  else,  to  take  heed  lest  the  light  which  God  has  placed  in  you 
be  quenched  or  grow  dim.  We  trust,  Monseigneur,  that  this 
warning  will  be  taken  in  good  part,  when  you  reflect  how  much 
it  is  for  your  service.  From  Geneva,  this  thirteenth  day  of 
September  1563. 

Your  very  humble  brethren, 
Jean  Calvin 
Theodore  de  Besze 

Conde  received  this  letter  at  the  Chateau  of  Muret,  in 
Picardy,  whither  he  had  just  arrived  on  a  visit  to  his  wife  and 
family,  accompanied  by  his  brother-in-law,  the  Comte  de  la 
Rochefoucauld,1  and   his  nephew,  the  Prince  de  Porcien.     It 

1  La   Rochefoucauld   had  married   Catherine  de   Roye,  younger  sister   of   the 
Princesse  de  Conde. 


ELEONORE  DE  ROYE,  PRINCESSE  DE  COND&  49 

would  not  appear  to  have  been  altogether  without  effect,  for, 
on  2  October,  Conde's  mother-in-law,  the  Comtesse  de  Roye, 
wrote  to  the  Duke  of  Wiirtemberg :  "  The  prince,  my  son-in- 
law,  intends  to  devote  himself  more  and  more  to  everything 
which  can  further  the  reign  of  Jesus  Christ." l 

In  the  course  of  that  same  month,  a  domestic  calamity 
came  to  add  weight  to  the  counsels  of  Calvin  and  Beze. 
Two  of  his  younger  children,  Madeleine,  aged  three,  and 
Louis,  a  child  of  eighteen  months,  fell  ill  and  died  within 
a  few  days  of  one  another,  to  the  inexpressible  grief  of  the 
Princesse  de  Conde,  who  was  one  of  the  most  devoted  of 
mothers. 

The  princess's  relatives  and  friends,  who  probably  regarded 
the  death  of  the  children  as  a  direct  judgment  from  Heaven 
upon  the  father's  sins,  did  not  fail  to  improve  the  occasion,  and 
represented  to  Conde  that  it  was  his  duty  to  withdraw,  for  some 
time  at  least,  from  the  Court  and  remain  with  his  bereaved 
wife.  The  poor  lady,  indeed,  needed  all  the  care  and  attention 
which  were  in  his  power  to  bestow,  since  she  was  a  prey  to 
bodily  suffering  as  well  as  to  anguish  of  mind.  Always  a 
delicate  woman,  the  dangers  and  agitations  of  the  past  two 
years  had  tried  her  cruelly.  In  the  spring  of  J1562,  when  on 
her  way  from  Meaux  to  Muret  with  her  eldest  boy  and  a  small 
retinue,  she  had  been  attacked  by  a  mob  of  fanatical  peasants, 
who  were  marching  in  a  Catholic  procession,  "without  any 
cause,  unless  it  were  that  they  had  been  incited  by  a  malignant 
priest,  out  of  hatred  for  the  Religion."2  The  litter  in  which  the 
princess  was  being  carried  was  smashed  to  pieces  by  volleys  of 
stones,  and  she  herself  narrowly  escaped  serious  injury.  She 
was  then  in  an  advanced  stage  of  pregnancy,  and  had  barely 
time  to  reach  the  nearest  village  when  she  gave  birth  to  twin 
sons.  Nevertheless,  as  soon  as  she  was  able  to  leave  her  bed, 
she  insisted  on  setting  out  for  Orleans  to  join  her  husband, 
and,  during  the  siege  of  that  town  in  the  following  winter,  she 

1  Comte  Jules  Delaborde,  "  Eleonore  de  Roye,  Princesse  de  Conde." 
■  Beze.     But  other  writers  assert  that  the  princess's  attendants  had  provoked  the 
attack  by  insulting  the  priests. 
E 


50        THE  LOVE-AFFAIRS  OF  THE  COND&S 

remained  there,  amid  all  the  horrors  of  war,  pestilence,  and 
famine,  to  encourage  its  defenders  by  her  heroic  example. 

Although  her  health  had  been  profoundly  affected  by  all 
that  she  had  gone  through  during  the  civil  war,  the  princess 
considered  it  her  duty,  so  long  as  any  physical  strength 
remained  to  her,  to  reside  at  the  Court  with  her  husband,  and 
to  follow  him  in  his  journeys.  Thus,  when,  in  the  early  summer 
of  1563,  Conde"  decided  to  take  part  in  the  expedition  against 
Le  Havre,  she  set  out  for  Normandy,  accompanied  by  her 
mother,  the  Comtesse  de  Roye.  But,  on  reaching  Gaillon,  she 
was  attacked  by  small-pox  of  so  severe  a  type  that,  for  some 
time,  she  was  in  grave  danger.  Scarcely  was  she  convalescent, 
than  Madame  de  Roye  fell  ill,  in  her  turn  ;  and  the  princess,  in 
attending  to  her  mother,  neglected  her  own  health,  which  from 
that  moment  declined  steadily. 

Although  the  dissolute  life  which  Conde  was  leading  had 
caused  her  the  greatest  grief,  she  had  refrained  from  reproach- 
ing him.  "  For  her,"  says  her  biographer,  "  the  true  remedy  for 
the  irregularities  of  the  unfaithful  husband  and  for  the  anguish 
of  the  outraged  wife  was  to  be  found  in  earnest  and  continual 
prayer.  She  implored  God  to  save  the  soul  led  astray,  and 
strove,  by  patient  efforts,  discreetly  directed,  and  loving 
instances,  to  bring  back  this  soul  into  the  path  of  duty,  and  to 
revive  in  it  family  affections."  1  She  now  joined  her  entreaties 
to  those  of  her  friends  and  relatives  to  persuade  her  husband  to 
remain  with  her.  But  Conde's  career  of  dissipation  had  stifled 
his  better  nature  ;  the  impressions  produced  on  his  mind  by  the 
death  of  his  children  were  soon  effaced,  and,  oblivious  of  the 
duty  which  he  owed  his  ailing  wife,  and  of  the  many  obligations 
under  which  she  had  placed  him,  in  the  first  days  of  November, 
he  quitted  her  abruptly  and  returned  to  the  Court,  which  was 
now  in  residence  at  Fontainebleau. 

A  most  unwelcome  piece  of  intelligence  greeted  him  on  his 
arrival.  He  was  informed  that,  during  his  absence  in  Picardy, 
Mile,  de  Limeuil  had  shown  herself  so  unworthy  of  the  signal 
honour  he  had  done  her  as  to  find  consolation  in  the  homage 

1  Comte  Jules  Dekborde,  "  Eleonore  de  Roye,  Princesse  de  Conde." 


CONDE   QUARRELS   WITH   ISABELLE  51 

of  M.  du  Fresne,  a  gentleman  for  whom  she  had  shown  a 
decided  preference  in  the  days  before  Conde  appeared  upon  the 
scene.  The  prince,  who  entertained  a  very  high  opinion  both 
of  the  lady  and  of  his  own  powers  of  fascination,  was  at  first 
incredulous  ;  but  the  evidence  laid  before  him  was  sufficiently 
circumstantial  to  disturb  his  peace  of  mind  very  seriously.  In 
consequence,  the  reunion  to  which  he  had  looked  forward  with 
so  much  impatience  was  shorn  of  all  its  rapture,  and,  instead  of 
smiles,  endearing  words,  and  embraces,  there  were  reproaches, 
indignant  denials,  sarcastic  rejoinders,  tears,  and  sulks. 

The  Marechale  de  Saint-Andre  did  not  fail  to  profit  by  the 
indiscretions  of  her  rival,  and  delivered  so  vigorous  and  well- 
timed  an  assault  upon  the  prince's  heart  that  she  succeeded  in 
temporarily  establishing  herself  there,  and  "  audaciously  flaunted 
her  conquest  before  the  eyes  of  the  whole  Court."  The 
marechale  had  now  recovered  her  daughter  from  the  Duchesse 
de  Guise,  though  not  without  an  appeal  to  the  law  courts,  and 
the  little  girl  was  on  the  point  of  being  formally  betrothed  to 
the  Marquis  de  Conti,  when  the  Queen-Mother,  who  had  got 
wind  of  the  project,  and  had  no  mind  to  see  the  House  of 
Conde  thus  aggrandized,  suddenly  intervened  and  persuaded 
the  King  to  inform  the  parents  that  he  should  refuse  his 
sanction  to  the  match. 

Conde  could  not  contain  his  indignation.  "The  Prince  de 
Condd  has  left  the  Court  in  anger,"  runs  a  letter  from  Fontaine- 
bleau,  "because  they  (Charles  IX.  and  Catherine)  would  not 
give  the  daughter  of  the  late  Marechal  de  Saint-Andre-  to  his 
son.  He  believes  that  they  intend  to  give  her  to  Guise.  The 
Constable  has  gone  to  fetch  him  back.  Others  have  gone  to 
fan  the  flame."  l  But  it  appears  to  have  been  Mile,  de  Limeuil, 
and  not  the  Constable,  who  persuaded  the  prince  to  stomach  the 
affront  he  had  received  and  to  return  to  the  Court.  Acting 
doubtless  by  Catherine's  orders,  the  damsel  addressed  to  him 
eloquent  and  persuasive  letters,  assuring  him  that  he  alone 
possessed  her  heart,  and  that  the  affair  with  M.  du  Fresne  had 

1  Letter  of    Almerigo   Bor   Fadino  to  Pierre  du   Bois,  merchant   of  Antwerp, 
13  November,  1563,  State  Papers  (Elizabeth),  Foreign  Series. 


52         THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   CONDfiS 

been  no  more  than  a  harmless  flirtation,  which  malicious  persons 
of  both  sexes — woman  who  envied  her  her  happiness,  and  gallants 
who  could  not  forgive  her  for  having  preferred  the  prince  to  them 
— had  magnified  into  an  intrigue.  As  for  the  matter  which 
had  caused  his  departure  from  the  Court,  was  it  worth  while  to 
sacrifice  his  pleasures  to  his  amour-propre  ?  The  little  Mile,  de 
Saint-Andre  was  a  sickly  child,  who  would  probably  never  live 
to  a  marriageable  age.  Let  him  return,  and  he  would  find  his 
Isabelle  impatiently  awaiting  him. 

Conde  did  return,  forgetting  for  the  nonce  his  grievances 
against  Catherine  and  anxious  only  for  a  reconciliation  with  his 
mistress.  The  Marechale  de  Saint-Andre  was  compelled,  to  her 
intense  mortification,  to  resign  her  conquest  and  retire  temporarily 
from  the  field ;  and  the  prince  and  Isabelle  embarked  upon  a 
second  honeymoon,  which  was  conducted  with  so  little  pretence 
at  concealment  that  people  were  astonished  that  Catherine,  who 
still  insisted  on  the  observance  of  some  outward  decorum  at  her 
Court,  should  permit  such  "  goings  on."  Her  Majesty,  however, 
who  was  fully  alive  to  the  political  advantages  of  a  passion 
which  was,  so  to  speak,  binding  her  adversary  hand  and  foot, 
found  it  convenient  to  be  a  little  blind. 

In  the  course  of  the  month  of  November,  Coligny  and 
Andelot  arrived  at  the  Court,  and,  on  learning  of  the  manner 
in  which  Conde  was  parading  his  profligacy,  expostulated  with 
him  in  no  measured  terms.  Their  remonstrances,  however,  had 
very  little  effect,  and  it  was  not  until  the  following  February, 
when  the  Princesse  de  Conde  paid  a  brief  visit  to  Fontainebleau, 
that  his  Highness  condescended  to  show  some  respect  for  les 
convenances. 


CHAPTER   V 

The  fetes  of  Fontainebleau — Charles  IX.  and  Catherine  set  out  on  a  grand 
progress  through  the  kingdom — Dangerous  illness  of  the  Princesse  de  Condd 
— Her  husband  obliged  to  remain  with  her — Scandalous  dhioiiment  of  the 
amours  of  Condd  and  Isabelle  de  Limeuil — Indignation  of  the  Queen- 
Mother  —  Isabelle  and  the  Prince  de  la  Roche-sur-Yon  —  The  Comte  de 
Maulevrier  accuses  Isabelle  of  having  plotted  to  poison  the  prince — She 
is  arrested  and  conducted  to  the  Franciscan  convent  at  Auxonne — Tender 
correspondence  between  her  and  Du  Fresne — Passionate  letters  of  Conde* 
to  his  mistress — Isabelle  denies  the  charges  against  her — Her  letter  to 
Catherine — She  is  removed  to  Vienne — Her  despair — Her  pathetic  letters 
to  Conde — She  is  examined  by  the  Bishops  of  Orldans  and  Limoges,  and 
confronted  by  Maulevrier. 

THE  Court  was  very  gay  that  winter.  At  the  beginning 
of  the  spring,  Charles  IX.  and  Catherine  were  to  set 
out  on  a  grand  progress  through  the  kingdom,  which 
was  expected  to  occupy  the  better  part  of  two  years  ;  and,  before 
their  departure,  Catherine  wished  to  revive  the  magnificent  fetes 
of  which  Fontainebleau  had  been  the  theatre  in  the  days  of 
"  le  Rot  chevalier"  In  the  vast  galleries  where  Primaticcio  has 
immortalized  the  beauty  of  her  rival  Diane  de  Poitiers,  she 
entertained  the  ilite  of  the  nobility  of  France,  Catholics  and 
Protestants  being  invited  without  distinction.  Hunting-parties, 
tilting-matches,  mimic  combats  on  foot  and  on  horseback,  balls, 
banquets  and  theatrical  representations  rilled  the  days  and 
nights  ;  the  princes  and  great  nobles  vied  with  one  another  in 
the  sumptuousness  of  the  entertainments  which  they,  in  return, 
offered  to  their  young  Sovereign  and  his  mother ;  and  a  stranger 
who  had  been  suddenly  transported  into  the  midst  of  all  this 
gaiety  and  extravagant  splendour  would  have  found  it  difficult 
to  believe  that  he  was  in  a  country  where  the  ashes  of  a  desolating 
civil  war  had  scarcely  had  time  to  grow  cold. 

53 


54        THE  LOVE-AFFAIRS  OF  THE  COND&S 

One  of  the  features  of  the  fetes  was  a  grand  banquet,  followed 
by  a  "  ballet-comidie?  which  Catherine  gave  at  the  Vacherie. 
Isabelle  de  Limeuil  figured  in  it,  in  the  character  of  Hebe,  and 
"  attired  in  a  tunic  of  transparent  gauze,  which  permitted  one 
to  catch  a  glimpse  of  limbs  which  the  goddess  might  have 
envied,"  was  the  cynosure  of  all  eyes.  Conde  was  no  doubt  not 
a  little  flattered  by  the  admiration  which  his  lady-love  was 
arousing,  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  charms  which  she  so 
freely  displayed  sufficed  to  preserve  him  from  the  manoeuvres 
of  her  fair  colleagues  in  the  Queen's  service,  who,  we  are  told, 
were  indefatigable  in  their  efforts  to  detach  him  from  her.  At 
the  Court  of  Charles  IX.,  it  was  something  even  to  be  faithful 
in  infidelity ! 

On  13  March,  1564,  their  Majesties  quitted  Fontainebleau, 
and  set  out  on  their  progress  through  the  realm.  This  journey 
had  been  long  meditated  by  Catherine,  who  expected  from  it 
important  results.  In  the  first  place,  respect  for  the  central 
authority  had  almost  disappeared  amid  the  anarchy  of  the  civil 
war,  and  the  Queen  desired,  by  making  the  young  King  known 
to  the  nation,  to  re-establish  the  monarchical  power  in  the 
interior.  In  the  second,  the  crisis  through  which  France  had 
just  passed  had  lowered  the  country  immeasurably  in  the  eyes 
of  other  States,  and  she  flattered  herself  that,  by  means  of 
interviews  with  foreign  sovereigns  on  the  frontiers,  she  might 
do  much  to  restore  the  prestige  of  the  French  name.  Moreover, 
by  establishing  a  good  understanding  with  them,  and  particularly 
with  Philip  II.  of  Spain,  she  hoped  to  free  herself  from  the 
tutelage  of  the  grandees  of  the  kingdom. 

The  cortege  was  a  most  imposing  one,  for  Catherine  wished 
to  impress  the  people  and  the  sovereigns  whom  she  was  to  meet 
by  the  magnificence  of  the  royal  retinue.  The  whole  of  the 
Court  followed  the  King — princes,  ministers,  gentlemen,  and 
ladies — and  there  was  a  veritable  cohort  of  pages  and  lackeys, 
wearing  his  Majesty's  livery  of  blue,  red,  and  white,  all  the 
pages  being  dressed  in  velvet.  The  military  escort  was  a  very 
large  one,  and  comprised  not  only  all  the  Household  troops,  but 
several  companies  of  men-at-arms.     The  Constable  marshalled 


ILLNESS  OF  THE  PRINCESSE  DE  COND&    55 

the  procession,  and  directed  its  movements  as  he  would  have 
done  that  of  an  army  on  the  march.1 

Champagne  was  first  visited.  The  Court  stopped  for  a  few 
days  at  Sens,  where  the  young  King  was  given  a  magnificent 
reception,  and  then  moved  on  to  Troyes,  which  was  reached  on 
27  March.  In  this  town,  where  the  negotiations  for  peace  with 
England  were  finally  concluded,  Conde  "  fell  sick  of  the  palsy 
or  apoplexy,  which  took  him  at  tennis,  and  a  fever  upon  it," 2 
and  his  condition  appeared  sufficiently  grave  for  his  wife,  who 
was  then  at  the  Chateau  of  Conde-en-Brie,  to  be  summoned  to 
nurse  him.  The  devoted  woman,  although  suffering  herself,  lost 
not  a  moment  in  hastening  to  her  faithless  husband's  side,  and 
in  lavishing  upon  him  the  tenderest  care.  Thanks  in  a  great 
measure  to  her  solicitude,  the  prince's  health  was  soon  re- 
established— for  his  illness  would  appear  to  have  been  much 
less  grave  than  was  at  first  supposed — and  she  was  able  to  return 
to  her  children.  But  the  hurried  journey  to  Troyes,  and  the 
anxiety  she  had  suffered  on  her  husband's  account,  had  exhausted 
her  slender  reserve  of  strength,  and  scarcely  had  she  reached 
Conde-en-Brie,  than  she  was  taken  dangerously  ill. 

A  courier,  dispatched  in  all  haste,  found  Conde  at  Vitry-le- 
Frangois,  whither  he  had  followed  the  Court,  and,  though,  for 
reasons  which  will  presently  be  understood,  he  was  extremely 
loath  to  part  from  Isabelle  at  this  juncture,  he  felt  obliged  to 
take  leave  of  their  Majesties  and  return  to  his  neglected  wife. 
On  his  arrival,  he  found  her  somewhat  better,  but  the  doctors 
did  not  disguise  from  him  that  her  recovery  was  hopeless,  and 
that,  in  all  probability,  she  had  but  a  few  weeks  to  live.  The 
prince,  however,  an  incurable  optimist,  declined  to  believe  that 
the  case  was  as  serious  as  they  represented,  and,  though  he 
decided  to  remain  with  her,  it  is  evident,  from  the  following 
letter,  written  by  him  to  his  nephew,  the  Prince  de  Porcien,  that 
he  was  determined  to  get  as  much  amusement  out  of  his 
enforced  sojourn  by  the  domestic  hearth  as  circumstances  would 
permit : 

1  F.  Decrue,  "  Anne,  due  de  Montmorency,  connetable  et  pair  de  France." 
"•  Smith  to  Cecil,  14  April,  1563,  State  Papers  (Elizabeth),  Foreign  Series. 


56        THE  LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   COND&S 

"  My  Nephew — My  desire  to  have  news  of  you  prompts  me 
to  write  you  this  letter,  and,  at  the  same  time,  to  entreat  that, 
if  your  convenience  permits,  you  will  come  to  see  and  console 
your  good  friend  and  relative,  who  is  very  wearied  [ennuye]  by 
his  wife's  serious  illness.  Come  with  your  greyhounds  and 
your  horses  and  arms,  if  that  be  possible,  and  I  will  promise  to 
show  you  as  fine  hunting  as  you  could  know  how  to  find.  My 
horse  and  arms  will  arrive  here  to-day,  and  I  hope  that,  if  you 
come,  we  shall  find  means,  please  God,  to  enjoy  ourselves."  l 

Meanwhile,  the  Court  was  continuing  its  progress.  From 
Troyes,  it  proceeded  to  Bar-le-Duc,  where  Charles  IX.  stood 
sponsor  to  the  infant  son  of  his  sister  Claude  and  the  Duke  of 
Lorraine,  and  on  22  May  arrived  at  Dijon,  where  it  remained 
until  the  30th,  their  Majesties  being  lodged  in  the  palace  of  the 
old  Dukes  of  Burgundy. 

It  was  during  the  sojourn  of  the  Court  in  this  town  that  the 
liaison  of  Conde  and  Isabelle  de  Limeuil  had  the  most  scanda- 
lous denotement.  At  the  Queen-Mother's  coucher,  according 
to  some  writers,  at  an  audience  given  by  their  Majesties  to 
a  deputation  which  had  come  to  present  them  with  an  address 
of  welcome,  according  to  others,  Isabelle  was  suddenly  taken 
ill,  and  carried  into  Catherine's  wardrobe,  where  she  gave  birth 
to  a  fine  boy,  of  whom  she  at  once  declared  Conde  to  be  the 
father.2 

It  was  not  the  first  casualty  of  its  kind  which  had  occurred  in 
the  ranks  of  the  "  escadron  volant?  Only  a  little  while  before,  a 
like  misfortune  had  befallen  another  maid-of-honour,  Mile,  de 
Vitry  by  name ;  but,  in  this  case,  an  open  scandal  had  been 
avoided.  Brought  to  bed  in  the  morning,  Mile,  de  Vitry  had 
had  the  fortitude  to  drag  herself  to  a  ball  given  at  the  Louvre 
that  same  evening,  and  thus  had  contrived  to  preserve  what 
shreds  of  reputation  may  have  been  left  to  her.3     For  a  young 

1  Letter  of  6  May,  1564,  published  by  the  Comte  Jules  Delaborde. 
■  "  Which  was  a  great  infamy  for  the  so-called  Reformed  Religion." — "Journal 
de  Bruslard." 

3  La  Ferriere,  "Trois  amoureuses  au  XVI1-'  siecle." 


ISABELLE  MAKES  AN   ENEMY  $7 

woman  who  ordinarily  showed  so  much  astuteness,  Isabelle,  as 
Mezeray  expresses  it,  had  certainly  "  taken  her  measures 
badly." « 

Catherine,  who  still  piqued  herself  on  the  outward  decorum 
of  her  entourage,  was  beside  herself  with  indignation.  Her 
maids-of-honour  might  commit  all  the  sins  in  the  Decalogue 
with  impunity,  so  long  as  they  did  not  add  to  them  the  un- 
forgivable one  of  being  found  out ;  but,  once  they  were  so 
maladroit  as  to  be  detected,  they  must  expect  no  consideration 
at  her  hands. 

However,  since  Isabelle  was,  after  all,  a  soldier  wounded  in 
her  Majesty's  service,  and  had  done  her  duty  nobly  until  she 
had  been  placed  hors  de  combat,  it  is  probable  that  no  worse  fate 
would  have  befallen  her  than  dismissal  from  the  "  squadron  " 
and  the  Court,  had  not  her  enemies  profited  by  her  misfortune 
to  launch  against  her  a  most  formidable  accusation. 

Isabelle,  as  we  have  mentioned  elsewhere,  possessed  a  biting 
wit,  which  she  was  accustomed  to  exercise  freely  at  the  expense 
of  those  who  were  so  unfortunate  as  to  displease  her,  not 
sparing  even  the  most  exalted  personages.  The  sharpness  of 
her  tongue,  indeed,  made  her  as  many  enemies  as  the  charms 
of  her  person  gained  her  admirers,  and  often  those  who 
approached  her  with  words  of  devotion  on  their  lips  were  so 
cruelly  rebuffed  that  they  retired  with  vengeance  in  their 
hearts. 

Among  those  whom  she  had  thus  contrived  to  offend,  was 
Charles  IX.'s  former  gouverneur,  the  Prince  de  la  Roche-sur- 
Yon,2  an  extremely  dangerous  person  for  a  maid-of-honour  to 
have  as  an  enemy,  since  not  only  was  he  a  Prince  of  the  Blood, 
and  a  gentleman  of  a  peculiarly  vindictive  character,  but  his 
wife  3  held  the  post  of  Grand  Mistress  of  Catherine's  House- 
hold, a  position  which  enabled  her  to  make  things  extremely 
unpleasant  for  any  of  the  Queen's  damsels  of  whose  conduct  she 

1  "Abrege  chronologique  dc  l'histoire  dc  France." 

2  Charles  de   Bourbon.      He  and  his  elder  brother,  Louis,   Due  de  Montpcnsier, 
represented  the  younger  branch  of  the  Bourbons. 

*  Philippe  de  Montespidon.     She  had  been  previously  married  to  the  Mare'chal 
de  Montjean. 


58         THE  LOVE-AFFAIRS  OF  THE  COND&S 

happened  to  disapprove.  Nor  was  it  long  before  Isabelle  had  good 
reason  to  regret  her  treatment  of  the  prince,  for  the  latter  took 
an  early  opportunity  of  representing  to  the  Grand  Mistress  that 
it  was  high  time  to  introduce  "  a  little  reformation  "  into  the 
Queen's  Household,  and  hinted  that  it  might  not  be  a  bad  plan 
were  she  to  make  a  few  inquiries  as  to  the  way  in  which  Mile. 
de  Limeuil  passed  her  time  when  off  duty.  The  lady  was  of 
her  husband's  opinion,  and,  from  that  moment,  the  maids-of- 
honour,  and  Isabelle  in  particular,  found  their  opportunities  for 
clandestine  meetings  with  their  admirers  seriously  curtailed  ; 
while,  as  time  went  on,  the  Grand  Mistress  began  to  evince  an 
interest  in  Mile,  de  Limeuil's  health  which  occasioned  the  object 
of  her  solicitude  infinite  embarrassment. 

The  girl,  who  well  knew  whom  she  had  to  thank  for  these 
annoyances,  was  furious  against  La  Roche-sur-Yon,  and  made 
no  secret  of  the  hatred  which  she  entertained  for  him.  One  of 
those  to  whom  she  expressed  her  opinion  of  the  prince  was  the 
Comte  de  Maulevrier,1  a  great  admirer  of  hers,  who  had  himself 
no  cause  to  love  his  Highness.  In  the  summer  of  1560,  it  had 
happened  that  Maulevrier  was  hunting  with  the  prince's  only 
son,  the  Marquis  de  Beaupreau,  a  boy  of  thirteen.  The 
marquis's  horse  stumbled  and  fell ;  Maulevrier,  who  was  close 
behind,  was  unable  to  stop  his,  and  the  animal  came  down 
with  all  its  weight  upon  the  unfortunate  lad,  who  was  so  badly 
crushed  that  he  died  shortly  afterwards.  Although  this 
calamity  was  obviously  due  to  pure  accident,  La  Roche-sur- 
Yon,  who  had  been  passionately  attached  to  his  son,  conceived 
the  most  violent  resentment  against  Maulevrier,  and  swore  that 
he  should  answer  for  the  boy's  life  with  his  own.  So  threaten- 
ing an  attitude  did  he  assume,  that  the  count  deemed  it  prudent 
to  go  into  hiding  for  some  time,  and  though,  thanks  to  the 
intervention  of  Catherine,  the  bereaved  father  was  eventually 
persuaded    to    forego    his    vengeance,    it    was    only    on     the 

1  Charles  de  la  Marck  (1538-1622).  He  was  the  second  son  of  Robert  de  la 
Marck,  Due  de  Bouillon.  It  is  singular,  in  view  of  what  we  are  about  to  relate,  that 
he  afterwards  married  as  his  second  wife  Antoinette  de  la  Tour,  younger  sister  of 
Isabelle. 


A  TREACHEROUS  ADMIRER  59 

understanding  that  Maulevrier  should  never  again  venture  to 
appear  before  him. 

Maulevrier  had  no  desire  to  do  so,  and  carefully  avoided  the 
prince,  until  one  day,  in  the  previous  summer,  they  happened 
to  meet  by  accident  No  sooner  did  La  Roche-sur-Yon  catch 
sight  of  the  involuntary  murderer,  than  he  drew  his  sword  and 
rushed  upon  him  like  a  madman,  and  the  count  only  saved 
himself  from  being  spitted  like  a  fowl  by  promptly  taking  to 
his  heels. 

Such  being  the  relations  between  La  Roche-sur-Yon  and 
Maulevrier,  it  is  not  surprising  that  Isabelle  should  have 
expected  to  find  in  the  latter  a  sympathetic  listener,  when  she 
inveighed  against  the  prince  as  the  instigator  of  all  the 
annoyances  to  which  she  and  her  colleagues  were  being  subjected 
by  the  Grand  Mistress,  or  that,  when  in  his  company,  she 
should  have  occasionally  indulged  in  that  extravagant  language 
in  which  angry  and  excitable  women  are  accustomed  to  find  an 
outlet  for  their  wounded  feelings,  but  to  which,  fortunately  for 
them,  sensible  people  seldom  attach  any  importance.  For  how 
could  she  have  imagined  that  Maulevrier,  who  had  always 
expressed  so  much  admiration  for  her,  and  who  had  himself 
been  subjected  to  such  unmerited  persecution  at  the  hands  of 
La  Roche-sur-Yon,  would  betray  her  confidences  to  their 
common  enemy  ? 

But  Maulevrier,  whether  because  he  had  some  secret  grudge 
against  the  girl,  or,  more  probably,  because  he  hoped  that,  by 
pretending  to  render  a  great  service  to  La  Roche-sur-Yon,  he 
might  persuade  that  personage  to  be  reconciled  to  him,  gave  a 
most  sinister  interpretation  to  the  expressions  which  the  ex- 
asperated Isabelle  permitted  to  escape  her,  and  communicated 
them  to  the  prince,  with  no  doubt  a  good  many  exaggerations. 

No  steps,  however,  seem  to  have  been  taken  by  La  Roche- 
sur-Yon  in  the  matter  until  the  occurrence  of  the  scandal  which 
we  have  just  related,  when,  having  decided  that  the  moment  for 
action  had  arrived,  he  persuaded  Maulevrier  to  draw  up  and 
sign  a  formal  information  against  Isabelle,  which  he  lost  no  time 
in  laying  before  the  King  and  the  Queen-Mother. 


60        THE  LOVE-AFFAIRS  OF  THE   COND&S 

In  this  document,  Maulevrier  declared  that  Isabelle  had  on 
several  occasions  said  to  him  :  "  If  I  were  in  your  place,  I 
should  poison  the  prince "  ;  that  during  the  journey  of  the 
Court  she  had  indulged  in  the  most  violent  language  against 
his  Highness,  whom  she  accused  of  inspiring  all  the  annoyances 
which  his  wife  had  inflicted  upon  the  Queen's  "  maids,"  and 
of  having  sought  to  injure  her  in  a  matter  which  closely  con- 
cerned her  honour  ;  that,  one  evening,  she  had  sent  for  him,  and 
told  him  that  La  Roche-sur-Yon  was  giving  a  supper-party  the 
following  night,  and  that  it  would  be  the  last  that  he  would 
ever  give,  warning  him,  at  the  same  time,  not  to  repeat  a  word 
of  what  she  had  said,  or  "  he  would  be  found  dead  in  the  corner 
of  some  ditch  "  ;  that,  notwithstanding  this  threat,  he  had  sent 
warning  to  the  prince,  who  had  begged  him  to  entice  Mile,  de 
Limeuil  into  further  confidences  ;  that,  a  few  days  later,  the 
Court  being  at  Vitry,  the  lady  had  said  to  him  :  "  The  coup 
failed  ;  the  prince  postponed  his  supper-party,  but  the  oppor- 
tunity will  recur " ;  with  which  she  drew  from  an  envelope  a 
white  powder  and  gave  him  part  of  it,  telling  him  to  make  his 
dog  take  it  and  he  would  see  that  in  a  short  time  the  animal 
would  be  dead ;  and,  finally,  that  on  the  morning  of  a  state 
dinner  given  at  Bar-le-Duc,  Mile,  de  Limeuil  had  remarked  to 
him :  "  It  is  truly  astonishing  that  the  Queen-Mother  has  not 
been  ill  I"1 

It  was,  of  course,  impossible  for  Charles  IX.  and  Catherine 
to  ignore  so  grave  an  accusation  as  that  of  having  planned  the 
poisoning  of  a  Prince  of  the  Blood,  backed  by  evidence  drawn 
up  with  such  minuteness  and  precision  of  detail  as  to  give  it  an 
air  of  probability.  At  the  same  time,  Catherine  would  perhaps, 
in  ordinary  circumstances,  have  hesitated  to  accept  the  unsup- 
ported testimony  of  Maulevrier,  who  was  not  a  person  on  whose 
word  much  reliance  was  usually  placed.  But,  as  La  Roche-sur- 
Yon  had,  of  course,  foreseen,  the  scandal  of  which  Isabelle  had 
just  been  the  cause  was  scarcely  calculated  to  incline  her  to 
view  the  matter  from  a  judicial  standpoint ;  and,  at  her  instiga- 
tion, the  King  at  once  signed  an  order  for  Isabelle  to  be 
1  "  Information  contre  Isabelle  de  Limeuil,"  cited  by  La  Ferriere. 


ISABELLE   IS  ARRESTED  61 

arrested  and  conducted  to  the  Franciscan  convent  at  Auxonne. 
Her  child  was  taken  away  from  her  and  given  into  the  charge 
of  a  poor  woman  at  Dijon. 

On  arriving  at  Auxonne,  Isabelle  was  received  by  M.  de 
Ventoux,  governor  of  the  town,  who  conducted  her  to  the 
convent.  Here,  she  was  incarcerated  in  a  little,  bare,  low- 
ceilinged  room,  like  a  prison  cell,  and  very  strictly  guarded. 
The  unfortunate  girl,  though  still  in  ignorance  of  the  charge 
against  her,  was  in  despair,  and,  we  are  assured,  for  three  days 
and  nights  did  nothing  but  groan  and  weep.  M.  de  Ventoux, 
a  kindly  man,  who  visited  her  several  times,  was  touched  with 
compassion,  and,  after  vainly  endeavouring  to  console  her, 
despatched  the  most  alarming  reports  of  her  condition  to  the 
Court,  in  one  of  which  he  declared  that,  if  it  were  possible  for 
a  woman  to  die  of  melancholy,  then  assuredly  she  had  not  long 
to  live. 

With  such  rapidity  and  secrecy  had  Isabelle  been  carried  off 
from  Dijon,  that  none  of  her  relatives  or  friends  at  the  Court 
had  the  least  idea  what  had  become  of  her.  But,  on  receiving 
Ventoux's  reports,  the  Queen-Mother  so  far  relented  as  to 
authorize  him  to  transmit  to  the  prisoner  all  the  letters  which 
were  addressed  to  her,  and  to  forward  to  their  destination  those 
which  she  wrote  herself,  having  first  taken  the  precaution  to 
open  and  copy  them,  since  in  this  way  some  very  useful  informa- 
tion might  be  obtained.  Singularly  enough,  neither  Isabelle 
nor  her  friends  seemed  to  have  had  the  least  suspicion  that  their 
correspondence  was  being  tampered  with. 

Catherine  must  have  been  disappointed  if  she  expected  to 
secure  from  these  epistles  any  evidence  in  regard  to  the  charge 
which  had  been  brought  against  Isabelle,  but,  en  revanche,  they 
contained  some  interesting  information  concerning  other  matters. 
The  first  letters,  for  instance,  which  passed  between  the  fair 
captive  and  M.  du  Fresne  were  peculiarly  enlightening,  and 
established  beyond  all  possibility  of  doubt  the  character  of  their 
relations. 

The  enamoured  Secretary  of  State  begins  by  deploring  that 
he  had  been  unable  to   take  farewell  of  the  lady  before  the 


62        THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS  OF  THE  COND&S 

Court  left  Dijon ;  but  the  mere  suspicion  that  he  had  done  so 
had  so  enraged  the  Queen-Mother  that  to  have  defied  her 
would  have  probably  entailed  his  prompt  disgrace.  On  -the 
other  hand,  the  Prince  de  Conde\  whom  he  had  taken  upon 
himself  to  inform  of  the  interesting  event  which  had  taken 
place  at  Dijon  and  of  the  subsequent  disappearance  of  its 
heroine,  had  expressed  much  annoyance,  because  he  had 
happened  to  mention  that  he  had  lent  Isabelle  a  dressing-gown, 
being  evidently  of  opinion  that  it  was  a  piece  of  presumption 
for  any  one  but  himself  to  assist  the  lady.  "  It  is  very 
strange,"  he  writes,  "  that,  being  abandoned,  as  I  was  able  to 
tell  him  you  had  been  by  every  one,  the  prince  should  take  it 
ill  that  you  have  been  visited  and  succoured  by  those  who  were 
incurring  risks  in  order  to  serve  you."  However,  he  should  not 
cease  to  employ  his  life  and  his  property  for  her,  "the  person 
whom  he  loved  and  esteemed  the  most  in  the  world."  But,  at 
the  same  time,  he  thinks  it  would  be  perhaps  advisable  for  her 
to  return  the  dressing-gown,  "  since  he  saw  clearly  that  it  was 
not  agreeable  to  the  prince  [Conde]  that  she  should  make  use 
of  it."  And  he  concludes  by  reminding  her  of  the  happy  days 
they  had  spent  together  when  the  Court  was  in  Normandy  the 
previous  summer,  when  he  had  received  "  taut  de  contentetnent." 
In  a  postscript,  he  bids  her  burn  his  letter,  which,  in  view  of  the 
fact  that  a  copy  was  already  in  the  hands  of  M.  de  Ventoux, 
seems  a  rather  unnecessary  precaution. 

Isabelle's  reply  was  calculated  to  satisfy  the  most  exacting 
of  lovers.  It  was  impossible  to  tell  him  what  pleasure  his  letter 
had  given  her ;  words  quite  failed  her  to  describe  it.  She  did 
nothing  all  day  but  think  of  him,  and  he  might  rest  assured  that, 
whatever  Fortune  might  have  in  store  for  her,  she  would  never 
cease  to  love  him.  [The  minx  will  write  much  the  same  to 
Conde"  a  little  later.]  She  sends  him  a  scarf  woven  with  her 
own  fair  hands,  two  pictures  of  saints  which  she  has  painted, 
a  heart,  and  a  book,  the  "  Patience  of  Job,"  which,  is  "fort 
d  propos"  She  concludes  by  kissing  his  hands  " thousands  and 
millions  of  times."1 

1  "  Information  contre  Isabelle  de  Limeuil." 


CONDI'S   PASSIONATE   LETTERS  63 

It  was,  as  we  have  seen,  through  the  medium  of  Du  Fresne 
that  Conde,  retained  by  the  bedside  of  his  dying  wife,  was 
informed  of  the  misfortunes  of  Isabelle.  To  receive  such  news 
of  his  mistress  through  the  courtesy  of  a  rival  occasioned  him, 
as  may  be  supposed,  the  keenest  mortification  ;  and  his  jealousy 
reveals  itself  very  plainly  in  the  first  letter  which  he  addressed 
to  the  lady : 

"  Alas !  my  heart,  what  can  I  say  to  you,  save  that  I  am 
more  dead  than  alive,  seeing  that  I  am  deprived  of  the  means 
of  serving  you,  and  seeing  you  depart *  without  knowing  how  I 
may  be  able  to  aid  you  ?  M.  du  Fresne  often  informs  me  that 
you  send  him  news  of  yourself,  but  I,  I  cannot  know  whither 
you  have  been  conducted,  and  I  am  greatly  astonished,  since  you 
have  the  means  of  writing  to  some  persons,  that  I  may  not 
receive  your  letters  also.  For  you  know  that  there  is  not  a  man 
in  the  world  who  would  be  so  much  grieved  at  your  distress  as 
myself,  nor  who,  with  greater  gaiety  of  heart,  would  be  more 
determined  to  hazard  his  life  to  do  you  a  useful  service.  I  am 
sending  you  one  of  my  dressing-gowns,  which  has  served  me 
and  you  also  when  we  were  together,  begging  you  to  believe 
that  I  should  prefer  you  to  your  gown,  since  I  should  be  of 
more  service  to  you  than  a  sable.  Let  me  know  that  you  are 
as  anxious  to  retain  me  in  your  good  graces,  now  that  you  are  a 
captive  as  when  you  were  at  liberty  ;  for  you  know  that,  being 
accustomed  not  to  share  them  with  any  one,  but  to  be  the  first 
and  the  only  one,  I  feel  sure  that  you  have  not  lost  the  good 
opinion  that  you  have  of  me,  but,  on  the  contrary,  that  it  is 
rather  increased.  It  remains  to  make  use  of  me  and  to  give  me 
the  opportunity  of  coming  to  free  you  from  the  trouble  in  which 
you  are,  for  you  must  acquaint  me  with  the  means  of  doing  so. 
I  have  eyes  which  do  nothing  but  weep,  and  strength  which  is 
inanimate,  since  it  is  not  commanded  by  you." 

If  Conde  had  been  unable  at  first  to  discover  the  place 
where  his  Isabelle  had  been  incarcerated,  he  had  succeeded  in 
getting  her  son  into  his  possession  ;  and,  having  received  two 

1  The  word,  almost  illegible,  may  be  either  partir  or  patir  (to  be  in  distress). 


64         THE  LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   CONDES 

letters  from  Isabelle  recommending  the  child  to  his  care,  he 
hastens  to  relieve  her  maternal  anxiety : 

"  I  shall  content  myself  by  telling  you  that  I  have  our  son 
in  my  hands,  safe,  and  merry  and  certain  to  live.  ...  It  is 
true  that  they  had  left  him  at  the  house  of  a  poor  woman,  who 
made  him  lie  on  straw  for  six  nights,  like  a  hound,  which  I 
thought  very  strange.  But  if,  at  the  beginning,  those  to  whom 
he  did  not  belong  treated  him  like  a  little  dog,  I  have  taken 
him  like  a  father  to  bring  him  up  en  prince.  He  deserves 
it,  for  he  is  the  most  beautiful  creature  that  ever  man  saw." 

And  the  lovelorn  prince  concludes  : 

"  If  I  do  not  see  you  soon,  I  would  as  lief  die  as  live.  I 
desire  it  as  much  or  more  than  my  salvation."  And,  at  the  end 
of  the  monogram  which  replaces  the  signature,  he  writes  :  "Let 
us  die  together ! " 

On  receiving  this  epistle,  which  confirmed  the  warning 
which  Du  Fresne  had  given  her  concerning  the  suspicions  of 
Conde,  Isabelle  hastened  to  assure  the  prince  that  her  heart 
was  wholly  his,  and  that  henceforth  she  would  communicate 
with  him  alone.  Meantime,  however,  Conde  had  learned  that 
gossip  was  far  from  unanimous  in  attributing  the  paternity  of 
the  child  to  him,  and  that  the  general  opinion  at  the  Court 
was  that  M.  du  Fresne's  claims  to  the  honour  were  at  least 
equal  to  his  own.1  All  aflame  with  jealousy,  he  writes  to  his 
mistress  : 

"  I  assure  you,  my  heart,  that  I  am  very  greatly  annoyed 
that  people  are  able  to  find  in  your  conduct  reason  to  ask  : 
'  Whose  is  this  child  ? '  which  is  as  much  as  to  say  that  you 
admit  two  persons  to  a  like  degree  of  favour.  I  do  not  tell  you 
this  because.  I  believe  it,  as  I  will  show  you  ;  for  I  will  give 

1  A  Latin  satire  of  the  time  ran : 

"  At  multi  dicunt  quod  pater 
Non  est  princeps,  sed  est  alter 
Qui  Regi  est  a  secretis 
Omnibus  est  notus  satis." 


CONDI'S   PASSIONATE   LETTERS  65 

you  a  proof  whether  I  love  you  or  no  in  a  few  days.  My  heart, 
since  we  have  gone  so  far,  we  must  raise  the  mask,  for  every 
one  knows  what  has  passed  between  us.  You  will  be  honoured 
and  esteemed  by  all,  since  you  show  them,  as  much  in  small 
things  as  in  great,  that  you  do  not  wish  to  address  or  to 
receive  news  save  from  him  whom  you  have  loved  more  than 
that  which  you  prize  more  dearly  than  yourself  [i.e.  her 
honour].  .  .  .  You  have  heard  that  they  speak  at  the  Court  of 
a  certain  person  [Du  Fresne].  You  must  take  care  to  silence 
these  false  reports.  You  need  not  resort  to  oaths  to  make  me 
believe  that  your  son  is  mine,  for  I  have  no  more  doubt  of  him 
than  of  those  of  my  wife.  But  act  in  such  a  way  that  others 
may  be  able  to  entertain  no  doubt  of  it,  and  reflect  that 
whoever  sees  him  will  say  with  reason  that  he  is  my  son  and 
yours,  for  our  two  faces  are  to  be  recognized  in  his.  I  implore 
you,  my  heart,  to  love  me  and  never  to  abandon  me,  as  you 
have  promised  ;  and  when  you  remind  yourself  of  the  occasion 
on  which  it  was  made,  I  am  sure  that  you  will  keep  your 
promise  to  me.  I  send  you  a  fur-lined  dressing-gown.  I 
should  like  to  be  near  you  in  its  place,  for  I  cannot  be  so 
useless  as  not  to  be  of  as  much  service  to  you  as  it  will  be. 

"  Our  son  is  very  well,  and  is  being  well  taken  care  of,  and 
is  in  my  hands,  which  is  my  only  consolation,  since  I  am 
separated  from  you,  and  is  a  pledge  to  render  me  for  ever 
assured  of  remaining  in  your  good  graces,  which  is  the 
thing  which  I  prize  the  most,  and  more  so  than  I  have  ever 
done." 

In  a  third  letter,  couched  in  equally  passionate  terms,  the 
prince  informs  his  lady-love  that  he  has  entrusted  her  son  to  a 
gentleman  who  will  bring  him  up  as  one  of  his  own  children, 
advises  her  to  write  to  the  Queen-Mother  to  implore  her 
clemency,  and  impresses  upon  her  the  importance  of  receiving 
only  the  servants  whom  he  may  send  to  her,  "by  which  she 
will  make  it  known  that  she  loves  no  one  save  him." 
He  concludes  by  assuring  her  that  he  intends  to  live  and  die 
with  her. 


66        THE  LOVE-AFFAIRS  OF  THE  COND&S 

On  9  June,  the  bishop  of  the  diocese,  Du  Puy,  and  the 
Sieur  Sarlan,  one  of  Catherine's  maitres  d'hote/,  who  had 
received  a  commission  from  the  King  to  investigate  the  charges 
against  Isabelle,  arrived  at  Auxonne.  The  prisoner  was  brought 
before  them  and  very  closely  interrogated.  She  admitted  that 
she  had  bitter  cause  to  complain  of  La  Roche-sur-Yon,  who 
had  not  only  egged  on  his  wife  to  pester  her  with  questions 
concerning  her  health,  but  had  told  Conde  that  he  was  "  very 
blind  and  very  credulous  if  he  believed  that  Limeuil  was  with 
child  by  him."  At  the  same  time,  she  denied  absolutely  that 
she  had  ever  made,  or  even  contemplated,  an  attempt  upon  the 
life  of  the  prince.  Nor  had  she  ever  suggested  to  Maulevrier 
that  he  should  poison  his  Highness,  although,  on  one  occasion, 
when  she  and  the  count  were  in  the  company  of  a  number  of 
other  persons,  she  had  heard  some  one,  whom  she  did  not  name, 
advise  Maulevrier  to  make  away  with  him,  "  in  the  interests  of 
his  repose."  Mile  de  Bourdeille,1  who  was  one  of  those  present, 
would  confirm  her  statement. 

The  commissioners  departed  for  Lyons,  where  the  Court 
had  just  arrived,  taking  with  them  a  very  dignified  and  pathetic 
letter  from  Isabelle  to  the  Queen-Mother: 

"  MADAME — After  having  heard  from  the  Sieurs  Sarlan  and 
Du  Puy  the  reasons  which  have  induced  your  Majesty  to  send 
them  to  me,  it  has  afflicted  me  to  such  a  degree  that,  but  for 
the  aid  of  God  and  the  hope  that  I  repose  in  your  kindness,  I 
should  have  fallen  into  the  greatest  despair  that  a  poor  creature 
could  be  in,  not  being  so  forgetful  of  God  as  to  have  conceived 
or  meditated  such  wickedness.  When  it  shall  have  pleased 
God  to  make  known  to  you  my  innocence,  I  implore  you,  for 
the  honour  of  those  to  whom  I  am  related,  to  do  such  justice 
upon  the  false  accuser  as  I  should  have  deserved,  had  I 
committed  such  a  crime." 

Meanwhile  Conde  had  not  been  idle.  He  had  sent  to 
Auxonne  one  of  his  confidential  servants,  who  had  put  himself 
into  communication  with  the  leading  Huguenots  of  the  town, 

1  The  sister  of  Brantome. 


ISABELLE   CONDUCTED  TO  VIENNE  67 

with  a  view  to  an  attempt  to  liberate  Isabelle  vi  et  armis,  and, 
at  the  beginning  of  July,  Ventoux,  getting  wind  of  this,  wrote, 
in  great  alarm,  to  Catherine,  declaring  that  he  could  no  longer 
be  responsible  for  the  safety  of  the  prisoner,  and  urging  her 
removal  to  some  place  where  she  would  be  in  greater  security. 
Her  Majesty  thereupon  despatched  her  first  valet  de  chambre, 
Gentil,  with  six  of  her  guards  to  Auxonne,  with  orders  to 
conduct  Isabelle  to  Vienne. 

The  lady  was  in  despair  when  informed  that  she  was  to 
leave  the  convent,  and  with  good  reason,  since  it  would  appear 
that  Conde's  supporters  had  arranged  to  make  an  attempt  to 
carry  her  off  a  night  or  two  later.  At  first,  she  refused  to 
budge  and  threatened  to  kill  herself;  but  eventually  she 
thought  better  of  it,  and  allowed  herself  to  be  conducted  to  the 
river,  where  she  and  her  escort  embarked  in  a  boat  to  proceed 
to  Macon,  the  first  stage  of  their  journey.  Scarcely,  however, 
had  they  got  her  on  board,  when  she  was  seized  with  a  violent 
attack  of  hysteria  and  gave  vent  to  the  most  heartrending  cries. 
Then,  for  a  whole  day  and  a  night  she  refused  either  to  eat  or 
drink,  until  Gentil  began  to  fear  that  she  would  never  reach  her 
destination  alive.  At  length,  however,  she  became  more  tract- 
able, partook  of  some  food,  and,  asking  for  writing  materials, 
indited  an  appealing  letter  to  Conde,  which  was  intercepted  by 
Gentil  and,  in  due  course,  transmitted  to  Catherine.  It  was 
as  follows  : 

"  Alas !  my  heart,  have  pity  upon  a  poor  creature  who 
suffers  all  things  for  having  loved  you  more  than  herself.1  My 
affliction  will  be  only  pleasure,  provided,  that  you  remember  me, 
and  that  I  am  so  happy  as  to  be  the  only  one  to  possess  your 
love.  I  am  so  afraid  that  my  absence  has  the  misfortune  to 
banish  me  from  your  good  graces,  which  tortures  me  more  than 
I  can  describe.  My  heart,  help  me  and  free  me  from  the  position 
in  which  I  have  no  more  to  suffer  for  the  rest  of  my  life.    Write 

1  From  this  it  is  evident  that  Isabelle  had  refrained  from  informing  Conde  of  the 
charge  that  had  been  brought  against  her,  and  allowed  him  to  suppose  that  the  Dijon 
scandal  was  the  sole  cause  of  her  imprisonment. 


68         THE  LOVE-AFFAIRS  OF  THE  COND&S 

to  the  Queen  in  my  favour  and  make  the  Marechal  de  Bourdttlon 
write." 

On  reaching  Magon,  Gentil  decided  that  it  was  inadvisable 
to  proceed  further  with  so  weak  an  escort,  for  the  Huguenots 
were  very  strong  in  that  part  of  the  country,  and  he  accord- 
ingly wrote  to  Catherine  begging  her  to  send  reinforcements,  as 
he  was  in  hourly  dread  of  being  attacked  and  his  prisoner 
carried  off.  On  her  side,  Isabelle,  more  and  more  alarmed 
as  to  the  fate  in  store  for  her,  profited  by  the  delay  to  write 
another  despairing  letter  to  Conde,  which,  like  the  first,  was 
intercepted  by  the  vigilant  Gentil  and  forwarded  to  his 
mistress : 

"  The  Queen  is  sending  me  to  Lyons  ;  if  you  have  not 
compassion  on  me,  I  see  myself  the  most  miserable  creature  in  the 
world,  in  such  manner  do  they  drag  me  about,  with  soldiers  for 
my  guards,  as  though  I  were  a  person  who  had  merited  death. 
I  have  no  hope  save  in  God  and  you.  It  would  be  well  for  you 
to  write  to  Madame  de  Savoie,1  to  persuade  her  to  obtain  my 
pardon  from  the  Queen.  I  am  a  more  faithful,  a  more 
affectionate,  slave  to  you  than  ever  I  was,  and  the  greater  my 
tortures,  the  more  I  adore  you.  Send  to  this  Lyonnais  country 
to  ascertain  where  I  may  be.  I  believe  that  I  shall  not  be 
far  away  from  it.  Alas !  my  heart,  remember  that  you  have 
promised  to  be  faithful  to  me.  Place  me  in  such  a  position 
that,  at  least  ere  I  die,  I  may  be  able  to  see  you.  Have  no 
other  heart  than  mine,  or  make  me  die  first.  I  kiss  your  hands 
and  feet  a  thousand  times." 

On  the  arrival  of  the  soldiers  demanded  by  Gentil,  Isabelle 
was  conducted  to  Lyons  and  thence  to  Vienne,  where  she  arrived 
on  1 8  July,  and  was  incarcerated  in  the  Chateau  des  Canoux. 
Here  she  was  again  examined,  this  time  by  two  members 
of  the  Council,  the  Bishops  of  Orleans  and  Limoges,  who 
were  frequently  employed  in  important  negotiations.     The  two 

1  Marguerite  de  Valois,  youngest  daughter  of  Francois  I.,  who  had  married,  in 
1559,  Emmanuel  Philibert  X,,  Duke  of  Savoy. 


ISABELLE  AND  MAULEVRIER  69 

bishops  brought  Maulevrier  with  them  and  confronted  him  with 
the  prisoner,  who  gave  him,  as  may  be  supposed,  an  exceedingly 
warm  reception,  "  liar,"  "  evil  liver,"  and  "  drunkard  "  being 
among  the  epithets  which  she  hurled  at  his  head.  Maulevrier 
persisted  in  his  charges,  but  could  call  no  evidence  to  support 
them  ;  Isabelle  reiterated  her  denials.  Their  lordships, 
though  they  pretended  to  look  very  wise,  could  make  nothing 
of  the  affair  at  all ;  but,  since  a  man  is  not  less  a  man  because 
he  happens  to  be  a  bishop,  and  Isabelle's  beauty  and  distress 
had  not  been  without  its  effect  upon  them,  they  left  her  with 
a  promise  to  intercede  for  her  with  the  Queen. 

Their  intercession,  however,  does  not  appear  to  have  had 
any  effect,  for  the  months  passed,  and  the  lady  still  remained 
under  lock  and  key. 


CHAPTER  VI 

Death  of  the  Princesse  de  Condd — Question  of  the  prince's  remarriage — 
The  Mardchale  de  Saint-Andrd's  bid  for  his  hand — Rumours  of  a  matrimonial 
alliance  with  the  Guises — Catherine  de'  Medici,  alarmed  at  such  a  prospect, 
resolves  to  set  Mile,  de  Limeuil  at  liberty — Isabelle  joins  Condd  at  Valery — 
Intense  indignation  of  the  Huguenots  at  the  scandalous  conduct  of  the 
prince — Quarrel  between  Condd  and  Coligny — The  leaders  of  the  party 
take  counsel  together  "  to  find  a  remedy  for  so  great  an  evil " — The  deputa- 
tion of  Protestant  pastors — Condd  declines  to  separate  from  his  mistress, 
but  eventually  breaks  with  her — His  marriage  with  Mile,  de  Longueville — 
Condd  persuaded  by  his  wife  to  demand  the  return  of  the  presents  he  has 
given  his  mistress — Revenge  of  Isabelle — Her  marriage — Renewal  of  the 
civil  war — Battle  of  Saint-Denis — Peace  of  Longjumeau — Flight  of  Conde 
to  La  Rochelle — Third  war  of  Religion  breaks  out — Battle  of  Jarnac — 
Death  of  Condd. 

ME A.N WHILE,  an  event  had  occurred  which  had 
occasioned  a  great  stir  in  both  political  camps. 
The  gloomy  prognostications  of  the  Princesse  de 
Conde's  physicians,  which  her  husband  had  at  first  ridiculed, 
proved  only  too  correct ;  all  through  the  remainder  of  the 
spring  and  the  first  weeks  of  summer  the  poor  lady  was 
gradually  becoming  weaker,  and  by  the  middle  of  July  it  was 
plain  that  she  had  but  a  few  days  to  live.  To  the  last  she 
was  full  of  consideration  for  the  husband  who  had  shown  so 
little  consideration  for  her.  "  Fearing  to  distress  him  too  much, 
if  she  told  him  herself  that  she  felt  death  approaching,"  writes 
her  biographer,  "the  princess  charged  two  grave  personages, 
friends  of  her  family,  to  go  to  Condc's  apartments,  to  acquaint 
him  with  what  she  foresaw  must  soon  happen,  and  to  ask  to  be 
allowed  to  entrust  him  with  her  last  wishes  in  an  authentic 
form.  'Tell  the  prince/  said  she  to  these  two  friends,  'that, 
since  God  is  pleased  so  soon  to  separate  our   bodies,  I    trust 

70 


DEATH   OF  THE  PRINCESSE   DE   CONDE      71 

that  at  least  our  souls  may  continue  to  be  bound  inseparably 
together  in  the  love  that  we  ought  to  bear  to  our  common 
Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  who  has  delivered  us  so  miraculously,  in 
the  eyes  of  all  Europe,  from  so  many  enemies  and  dangers. 
Tell  him  also  that, — to  begin  my  will, — I  constitute  him  the 
universal  heir  to  the  mass  of  love  I  have  vowed  to  my  children, 
and  I  conjure  him,  in  loving  them  doubly  henceforth  both  for 
himself  and  for  me,  to  keep  vigil  in  my  place,  so  that  they 
may  be  brought  up  in  the  fear  of  God,  which  I  am  convinced 
is  the  surest  estate  and  patrimony  that  I  can  bequeath  to 
them.' " 1 

Conde  appeared  to  be  profoundly  affected.  He  declared 
that  he  had  received  from  the  princess  a  lesson  in  courage 
which  he  should  strive  to  follow  out  of  love  for  her  and 
her  children  ;  adding  that  the  latter  would  always  find  him 
faithful  to  the  last  recommendations  of  their  mother.  "  God, 
who  joined  us  now  divides  us,  since  it  pleases  Him,"  he 
exclaimed.  "  Oh  !  blessed  will  be  the  moment  when  He  ordains 
that  we  shall  be  reunited  in  Heaven  in  an  eternal  bond  !  " 

These  pious  expressions,  which,  though  they  may  appear  so 
out  of  place  on  the  lips  of  the  lover  of  Isabelie  de  Limeuil,  were 
probably  uttered  in  all  sincerity,  seem  to  have  greatly  comforted 
the  poor  princess,  who  then  sent  for  two  notaries  and  dictated 
to  them  her  will. 

Afterwards,  she  summoned  her  chaplain  Perussel,  who,  it 
will  be  remembered,  had  shared  Conde's  captivity  after  Dreux, 
and  another  minister,  and  conversed  with  them  on  spiritual 
matters.  On  their  departure,  Conde  returned  to  her  bedside, 
and  spoke  to  her  some  affectionate  words.  "  Four  things," 
replied  the  dying  princess,  taking  his  hands  in  hers,  "render 
me  happy  :  the  first  is  the  assurance  of  my  salvation,  the  second, 
the  reputation  of  being  a  good  wife,  which,  by  God's  grace,  I 
have  always  had  ;  the  third,  the  certainty  that  you  are  satisfied 
with  me,  because  I  have  always  as  faithfully  served,  loved,  and 
honoured  you  as  it  was  possible  for  a  wife,  in  this  world,  to 
serve,  honour,  and  love  her  husband  ;    the  fourth,  my  joy  that 

1  Comte  Jules  Dclaborde,  "  Eleonore  de  Roye,  Princesse  de  Conde." 


72         THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE  COND&S 

God  leaves  to  my  children  a  father  and  a  grandmother  who 
will  bring  them  up  in  the  fear  of  God,  in  accordance  with  my 
principal  desire."  And,  after  a  moment's  silence,  she  added : 
"  And  now  I  must  finish  my  course  to  gain  the  prize  which  I 
see  prepared  for  me  at  the  end  of  the  lists  of  this  laborious 
career." 

Conde  then  withdrew,  and  the  princess's  children  entered  to 
take  farewell  of  her  and  receive  her  last  recommendations. 

Towards  midnight,  fearing  that  she  would  soon  be  too  weak 
to  make  herself  understood,  she  expressed  a  wish  to  have  a 
final  conversation  with  her  husband.  "  I  am  sure,"  said  she, 
"  that  the  prince  will  not  mind  being  awakened  for  this  occasion, 
and  it  would  not  be  well  to  wait  until  I  could  no  longer  declare 
to  him  the  things  that  God  has  put  into  my  heart." 

On  the  arrival  of  Conde,  every  one  present  withdrew  out  of 
hearing,  and  husband  and  wife  conversed  together  for  nearly  an 
hour. 

The  end  came  at  eight  o'clock  the  following  morning  (23  July, 
1564).  Conde,  who  had  quite  broken  down,  had  retired  to 
his  own  room,  and  one  of  the  Huguenot  ministers,  who  had  been 
with  the  princess  in  her  last  moments,  came  to  break  the  sad 
news  to  him.  Dissolute  as  his  life  had  been  of  late  years,  his 
heart  was  not  quite  corrupted,  and  the  grief  which  he  experienced 
was  accentuated  by  remorse  for  the  pain  which  his  infidelities 
had  so  often  caused  the  devoted  companion  who  had  just  been 
taken  from  him.  Now,  probably  for  the  first  time,  he  seemed 
to  realize  her  worth,  and  nothing  could  have  been  more  touch- 
ing than  the  terms  in  which  he  spoke  of  her  to  his  weeping 
children.  "  Strive,  my  darling,"  said  he  to  his  little  daughter, 
"to  resemble  your  mother,  that  God  may  help  you  as  He  helped 
her,  that  every  one  may  esteem  you,  and  that  I  may  love  you  more 
and  more,  as  I  shall  surely  do  if  you  are  as  she  was."  Then, 
laying  his  hand  on  the  head  of  the  Marquis  de  Conti,  he  added  : 
"  My  son,  you  are  the  first  pledge  of  the  blessing  and  favour  of 
marriage  which  God  gave  to  your  mother  and  myself.  See 
that  you  always  give  me  joy  and  consolation,  which  you  will  do 
if  you  follow  in  the  footsteps  of  your  mother  in  the  way  of 


Bx 


s**1        ,«  *&> 


^ 


liLEOXORE    DK   ROYK,   I'RIXCKSSK    I)K   CONDI. 

FKDM    A    DRAWING    l',Y    AX    UNKNOWN    AKTISI 


A   BID  FOR  A  HUSBAND  73 

virtue.  Recognize  the  traces,  for  fear  lest  you  go  astray  along 
the  paths  of  the  dangerous  labyrinth  of  this  world.  Sons  are 
usually  like  their  fathers,  but  you  must  strive  to  copy  the 
virtues  of  your  mother.  For  you  will  be  told  things  about  your 
father  and  his  life  that  you  ought  not  to  imitate,  though  there 
are  other  things  in  him  that  you  must  follow.  But  in  your 
mother  .  .  .  you  will  find  nothing  which  is  not  worthy  to  be  a 
treasured  example,  as  she  was  worthy  of  a  place  in  the  fore- 
most ranks  of  virtuous  women." * 

Conde's  grief  had,  for  the  moment,  exalted  him,  but  his 
impressions  were  always  more  violent  than  lasting,  and  scandal 
was  soon  to  be  busy  again  with  his  name. 

Scarcely  had  the  grave  closed  upon  £leonore  de  Roye  than 
all  kinds  of  rumours  were  in  circulation  as  to  her  probable 
successor,  for  no  one  doubted  that  a  prince  in  the  very  prime 
of  manhood  and  of  so  "  amorous  a  complexion  "  would  take 
unto  himself  a  second  wife  with  as  little  delay  as  need  be. 

It  was  said  that  the  Marechale  de  Saint-Andre  was 
determined  to  have  him ;  and  the  death  of  the  little  Mile,  de 
Saint- Andre,  which  had  occurred  at  the  Convent  of  Longchamps 
three  weeks  before  that  of  Conde's  wife,  whereby  the  little  girl's 
immense  fortune  passed  to  her  mother,  was  freely  ascribed  to 
a  diabolical  crime  on  the  part  of  the  marechale,  in  order  to 
facilitate  her  union  with  the  prospective  widower. 

There  would  not  appear  to  have  been  any  foundation  for  so 
terrible  a  charge,  though  the  marechale,  who,  besides  being 
desperately  enamoured  of  Conde,  was  a  very  ambitious  woman, 
was  certainly  prepared  to  move  heaven  and  earth  to  secure  her 
elevation  to  the  rank  of  Princess  of  the  Blood.  No  sooner  did 
she  learn  that  poor  Eleonore  de  Roye's  recovery  had  been 
pronounced  hopeless  than,  with  the  object  of  establishing  claims 
to  the  expected  vacancy  which  it  would  be  difficult  to  ignore, 
she  made  the  prince  a  present  of  the  estate  and  magnificent 
chateau  of  Valery,  near  Sens,  which  her  luxurious  husband  had 
rebuilt  and  furnished  with  the  most  costly  magnificence.  At 
1  Comte  Jules  Delaborde,  "Eleonore  de  Roye,  Princesse  dc  Conde." 


74         THE  LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE  CONDES 

the  time  when  it  was  made,  the  singularity  of  this  donation  was 
somewhat  modified  by  the  fact  that  the  Queen-Mother  had 
withdrawn  her  objections  to  the  marriage  of  the  Marquis  de 
Conti  and  Mile,  de  Saint-Andre.  But  when,  after  the  death  of 
the  latter  had  put  an  end  to  this  project,  the  marechale  not  only 
confirmed  the  gift  of  Valery,  but  added  to  it  a  considerable 
part  of  the  fortune  left  by  her  daughter,  it  was  no  longer 
possible  to  disguise  the  motive  of  such  unexampled  generosity  ; 
and  people  said  very  unkind  things,  both  about  the  giver  and 
the  prince,  who  had  accepted,  apparently  without  a  blush,  an 
almost  regal  present  from  one  of  his  avowed  mistresses. 

Other  rumours  espoused  Conde  to  Catherine  de  Lorraine, 
daughter  of  the  late  Due  de  Guise,  or  to  her  widowed  mother, 
Anne  d'Este,  still  very  beautiful ;  while  others  again  united  him 
to  Mary,  Queen  of  Scots. 

The  prince  had  no  intention  of  gratifying  the  ambitions  of 
the  Marechale  de  Saint-Andre,  being  of  opinion  that  to  become 
her  husband  would  be  to  pay  altogether  too  high  a  price  for 
Valery.  But  he  was  not  indisposed  to  a  union  with  the  Guises, 
for,  though  they  had  done  him  much  injury  in  the  past,  the 
death  of  their  illustrious  head  had  deprived  them  of  their 
influence,  and  he  was  of  too  generous  a  nature  to  cherish 
rancour  against  a  fallen  foe. 

The  Guises  on  their  side,  hated  by  the  Huguenots,  disliked 
by  the  Montmorencies,  and  distrusted  by  the  Queen,  were 
sincerely  anxious  for  a  union  with  Conde.  At  the  end  of 
December  1564,  the  Cardinal  de  Lorraine,  returning  from  the 
Council  of  Trent,  passed  through  Soissons,  to  which  town  the 
prince  had  come,  on  a  visit  to  his  sister,  Catherine  de  Bourbon, 
abbess  of  the  Convent  of  Notre-Dame.  A  very  cordial  inter- 
view took  place  between  them,  in  which  his  Eminence  suggested 
to  Conde  a  marriage  between  him  and  Mary  Stuart.  The 
cardinal  had  already  approached  his  niece  on  the  subject,  excusing 
the  inconsistency  of  a  Prince  of  the  Church  recommending  a 
heretic  as  a  husband  on  the  ground  that  the  Huguenots  were 
so  determined  to  compass  his  ruin  that  the  marriage  was 
absolutely  necessary  for  his  political  salvation.     It  is  true  that 


QUESTION    OF  CONDI'S  REMARRIAGE        75 

he  had  received  scant  encouragement  from  that  quarter,  since 
the  young  queen  strongly  resented  the  idea  that  she  should 
sacrifice  her  own  inclinations  for  his  Eminence's  advantage. 
"  Truly  I  am  beholden  to  my  uncle,"  she  exclaimed,  ironically. 
"  So  that  it  be  well  with  him,  he  careth  not  what  becometh  of 
me." l  Nevertheless,  the  cardinal  did  not  despair  of  ultimately 
obtaining  her  consent. 

On  leaving  Soissons,  the  Cardinal  de  Lorraine  proceeded  to 
Paris,  followed  by  "  fifty  arquebusiers  and  some  hundreds  of  his 
friends  and  servants,  with  arms,  pistols,  and  arquebuses."  On 
reaching  Saint-Denis,  he  was  met  by  a  gentleman  of  the  Marechal 
de  Montmorency,  governor  of  the  Ile-de-France  and  his  personal 
enemy,  who  warned  him  that  he  could  not  be  permitted  to  enter 
the  city  with  an  armed  retinue,  since  the  edicts  forbade  it.  The 
prelate,  however,  thought  proper  to  ignore  this  warning,  and,  on 
8  January,  1565,  he  and  his  whole  company  entered  Paris  by  the 
Porte  Saint-Denis.  Near  the  Church  of  the  Innocents  they 
were  met  by  Montmorency,  at  the  head  of  a  considerable 
force.  The  marshal  called  upon  them  to  lay  down  their  arms  ; 
one  man  refused  and  was  immediately  killed  ;  the  rest  obeyed, 
and  the  cardinal,  never  remarkable  for  his  personal  courage, 
took  refuge  in  the  house  of  a  merchant,  where  he  remained  until 
nightfall.2 

This  affair  caused  a  great  commotion.  The  partisans  of  the 
Guises  assembled  at  Meudon,  under  the  leadership  of  the  Due 
d'Aumale,  and  assumed  a  most  threatening  attitude ;  the 
Marechal  de  Montmorency  summoned  his  friends  to  his 
assistance,  and,  since  he  was  known  to  favour  the  Huguenots, 
Coligny  and  a  number  of  Protestant  gentlemen  hastened  to 
Paris  to  offer  him  their  services.  To  the  general  astonishment, 
however,  Conde  took  the  cardinal's  part  and  openly  blamed 
Montmorency.  "  If,"  said  he,  referring  to  the  fragas  by  the 
Innocents,  "  this  was  intended  for  a  jest,  it  was  too  much  :  if  it 
was  in  earnest,  too  little." 

With  the  object  of  showing  his  sympathy  with  the  cardinal 

1  Martin  Hume,  "The  Courtships  of  Mary  Stuart." 

2  Castelnau,  "  Mcmoires." 


76        THE  LOVE-AFFAIRS  OF  THE  COND&S 

in  a  more  practical  form,  at  the  end  of  January,  he,  in  his  turn, 
had  the  pretension  to  enter  Paris  with  three  hundred  horse.  On 
reaching  the  Bastille,  however,  he  received  a  message  from 
Montmorency  summoning  him  to  retire  immediately,  which  he 
did,  though  not  without  addressing  a  letter  of  protest  to  the 
King,  which  was  the  cause  of  violent  dissensions  in  the  Council, 
where  the  Cardinal  de  Bourbon  took  the  part  of  his  brother,  and 
the  Constable  energetically  defended  the  action  of  his  son.  On 
a  second  visit  to  the  capital,  which  the  prince  paid  a  few  weeks 
later,  he  assured  the  Bishop  of  Paris  that  he  would  protect  the 
ecclesiastical  hierarchy,  and  that  he  deplored  the  affront  which 
had  been  offered  the  Cardinal  de  Lorraine  ;  and  when  the 
Parlement  complained  that,  in  contravention  of  the  edict, 
prcches  had  been  held  at  his  house,  he  answered  that  he  had 
neither  authorized  nor  attended  them. 

The  conduct  of  the  prince,  which  seemed  to  foreshadow  a 
complete  change  of  policy  on  his  part,  and  to  confirm  the  rumours 
already  in  circulation  as  to  a  matrimonial  alliance  with  the  Guises, 
naturally  gave  the  greatest  umbrage  to  the  Huguenots,  and  the 
extreme  section  of  the  party,  already,  as  we  have  seen,  very  dis- 
satisfied with  their  leader,  vented  their  annoyance  in  a  stream  of 
lampoons  and  satires.  The  Due  d'Aumale,  in  his  "  Histoire  des 
Princes  de  Conde,"  stigmatizes  the  Protestants  as  "  unjust  and 
ungrateful,"  and  declares  that  "  there  is  no  proof  that  Conde  ever 
contemplated  a  union  by  marriage  with  the  House  of  Lorraine." 
"  In  any  case,"  continues  the  royal  historian,  "  if  he  did  '  bind 
himself  afresh '  to  his  former  rivals  ;  if  he  refused  to  take  part 
in  all  the  quarrels  and  to  share  all  the  passions  which  were 
raging  around  him,  it  was  because  he  was  sincerely  desirous 
to  obliterate  the  traces,  and  prevent  the  renewal,  of  the  civil 
war." 

The  Due  d'Aumale  could  not,  however,  have  been  aware,  at 
the  time  when  this  was  published,  of  a  letter  written  by  Mary 
Stuart  to  her  aunt  the  Duchesse  d'Arschot,  from  which  it  would 
appear  that  the  project  of  a  marriage  between  Conde  and  the 
beautiful  young  widow  of  Frangois  II.  had  not  only  been  very 
favourably   received   by  the  prince,  but  that  he  had  actually 


QUESTION  OF  CONDI'S  REMARRIAGE        77 

taken  some  active  steps  in  the  matter.  "  I  hear,"  writes  Mary, 
"that  the  Prince  de  Conde  has  demanded  my  hand  of  my 
grandmother  l  and  of  the  Cardinal  de  Lorraine,  my  uncle,  and 
that  he  has  made  the  most  splendid  offers  imaginable,  both  in 
regard  to  religion  and  other  matters." 2 

Whatever  offers  Conde  may  have  made,  they  had  no  effect 
upon  Mary,  who  was  now  firmly  resolved  to  marry  Darnley,  and 
was,  besides,  thoroughly  disgusted  with  the  unabashed  selfishness 
of  the  Cardinal  de  Lorraine.  But  the  Queen  of  Scotland  was 
not  the  only  card  in  his  Eminence's  hand,  and,  though  a  match 
with  the  widowed  Duchesse  de  Guise — whose  infatuation  for  the 
fascinating  Due  de  Nemours  was  common  knowledge — or  with 
her  daughter,  a  girl  of  thirteen,  was  not  likely  to  prove  so 
attractive  to  Conde,  there  was  still  a  possibility  that  it  might  be 
arranged,  and  for  months  the  Protestants  were  in  a  state  of 
trepidation. 

Their  alarm  was  shared  by  Catherine  de'  Medici,  to  whom 
the  prospect  of  so  intimate  a  rapprochement  between  the  Houses 
of  Bourbon  and  Lorraine  was  anything  but  pleasing.  Fully 
sensible  though  her  Majesty  was  of  the  importance  of  detaching 
the  first  Prince  of  the  Blood  from  the  Protestant  cause,  she  judged 
that  this  advantage  would  be  too  dearly  purchased  by  the  sub- 
ordination of  the  Crown  to  two  ambitious  families,  which  would 
be  the  inevitable  consequence  of  their  alliance ;  and  she  was 
determined  to  use  every  means  in  her  power  to  avert  such  a 
calamity.  It  was,  of  course,  the  King's  prerogative  to  refuse  to 
sanction  a  marriage  of  which  he  might  happen  to  disapprove,  but 
arbitrary  measures  seldom  commended  themselves  to  Catherine, 
who  always  preferred  to  gain  her  ends  by  indirect  means,  and 
shift  the  odium  which  she  would;  otherwise  incur  upon  the 
shoulders  of  her  agents.  She  therefore  bethought  herself  of 
Isabelle  de  Limeuil,  who  had  lately  been  transferred  from 
Vienne  to  the  Chateau  of  Tournon.  Here,  ready  to  her  hand, 
was  a  woman,  who,  as  their  intercepted  correspondence  had 
shown  her,  had  contrived,   notwithstanding   the   infidelities  of 

1  Antoinette  de  Bourbon,  widow  of  Claude  de  Lorraine. 

2  Labanoff,  "  Lettres  de  Marie  Stuart." 


78         THE  LOVE-AFFAIRS  OF  THE  CONDfiS 

Cond6,  to  preserve  all  her  power  over  him — a  woman  who  knew 
better  than  any  other  how  to  govern  that  emotional  and  fickle 
heart,  by  associating  the  most  incredible  expressions  of  tender- 
ness with  the  most  exaggerated  flatteries.  If  Isabelle  and  her 
prince  were  brought  together  again,  if  matters  could  be  so 
arranged  that  the  latter  should  be  compelled  to  offer  his  mistress 
the  shelter  of  one  of  his  own  residences,  was  it  not  probable  that, 
in  the  joy  of  this  reunion,  the  question  of  his  second  marriage 
would  be  relegated,  for  a  time  at  least,  to  the  background  ?  And 
was  it  not  probable,  too,  that  the  open  scandal  would  provoke 
remonstrances  from  his  co-religionists  which  would  irritate 
Conde  and  widen  the  breach  which  existed  between  him  and 
his  party  ? 

Interesting  indeed  must  have  been  the  letters  which  passed 
at  this  time  between  the  captive  of  Tournon  and  the  enamoured 
prince,  as  the  result  of  which  Isabelle  was  not  only  rescued  from 
her  prison,  but  conducted  to  her  lover  at  Valery,  the  chateau 
presented  to  Conde  by  her  rival — a  piquant  revenge,  in  good 
truth,  upon  the  Marechale  de  Saint-Andre  for  the  advantage 
which  she  had  taken  of  Isabelle's  enforced  absence  from  the 
field  !  Unfortunately,  the  correspondence  has  not  been  pre- 
served, and  the  only  light  cast  upon  the  situation  is  a  passage 
in  a  despatch  from  Smith  to  Cecil,  dated  10  April,  1565  :  "The 
Prince  de  Conde  has  by  a  certain  gentleman  stolen  Mademoiselle 
de  Lymoel  (sic)  from  Tournon,  where  she  was  kept,  and  has  her 
with  him."  * 

And  has  her  with  him  !  Yes,  under  the  same  roof!  "  Grand 
Dieu  !  it  was  enough  to  make  Calvin  rise  from  his  grave ! " 2 
cried  the  Huguenot  pastors,  holding  up  their  hands  in  righteous 
horror.  "  Had  the  prince  taken  leave  of  his  senses  that  he  should 
choose  to  create  a  public  scandal  and  make  'the  Religion'  a 
by-word  in  the  mouths  of  the  froward,  at  the  very  moment 
when  Catherine  and  Philip  of  Spain  were  believed  to  be  plotting 
its  destruction  ?  Had  not  the  way  of  salvation  been  made 
sufficiently  plain  to  him?  Had  not  Beze  and  Perussel  and 
l'Espine  and  Laboissiere  spread  the  choicest  flowers  of  their 

1  State  Papers  (Elizabeth),  Foreign  Series.    2  Calvin  had  died  on  27  May,  1564. 


REUNION   OF  CONDfe  AND  ISABELLE         79 

eloquence  before  him,  and  in  sermons  two  hours  long  insisted 
on  the  necessity  of  the  leaders  of  the  faithful  leading  lives  that 
should  be  beyond  reproach.  And  this  was  the  result !  Out 
upon  him  for  an  evil-liver  and  an  apostate  ! " 

The  politicians  of  the  party  were  scarcely  less  indignant 
than  the  divines,  and  the  reappearance  of  Isabelle  upon  the 
scene  was  the  signal  for  a  very  pretty  quarrel  between  them 
and  the  prince,  of  which  a  piquant  account  is  given  in  an 
anonymous  letter  in  Italian  in  the  Simancas  Collection  : 

"  I  have  seen  a  letter  of  Madame  de  Chelles,1  from  which 
she  appears  to  entertain  great  hopes  of  friendship  between  her 
brother  and  the  cardinal  [de  Lorraine].  My  friend  and  I  think 
that  nothing  can  be  founded  upon  the  words  or  the  acts  of  so 
frivolous  a  man  as  Conde  shows  himself  to  be,  who  is  at  present 
more  than  ever  enamoured  of  his  Limeuil.  Paroceli 2  has  been 
here  four  or  five  days,  and  has  preached  in  private  to  his 
Huguenots.  Languet  learned  from  him  that  dissension  has 
arisen,  on  the  subject  of  la  Limeuil,  between  Conde  and 
Chatillon  [Coligny],  and  subsequently  between  the  aforesaid 
Conde  and  his  followers,  in  such  manner  that  Chatillon  has 
parted  from  him,  has  come  to  Paris,  and  has  withdrawn,  some 
say  to  Chatillon,  others  to  an  abbey  belonging  to  him,  and  that 
Conde's  followers  have  almost  all  abandoned  him. 

"  The  occasion  of  this  was  that  a  certain  letter  was  written 
to  Conde  from  Paris,  at  the  close  of  which  was  written  :  '  The 
young  lady  has  come.'  Chatillon,  who  was  standing  over 
Conde  as  he  read  the  letter,  saw  these  words,  and,  guessing 
what  they  meant,  said  to  Conde  :  '  I  can  tell  what  young  lady 
it  is  that  has  come  to  Paris.'  To  which  Conde  replied  in 
certain  words  which  showed  that  Chatillon's  speech  was  not 
agreeable  to  him  ;  but  the  matter  did  not  go  any  further  for  the 
time  being. 

"  After  la  Limeuil  had  arrived  at  the  place  to  which  Conde 
had  ordered   her  to   be  conducted,  and  they  had   been  seen 

1  Renee  de  Bourbon,  Abbess  of  Chelles,  sister  of  Conde. 

2  Presumably   Conde's    chaplain,   Perssel,  whose  name    is    sometimes   written 
Perocel. 


8o        THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   COND&S 

together,  certain  Huguenot  gentlemen  went  and  found  Conde\ 
and  began  to  admonish  him,  and,  so  to  speak,  to  reprove  him 
on  the  subject  of  his  mistress.  Upon  which,  Conde,  supposing 
that  his  secret  had  been  revealed  to  them  by  Chatillon,  and 
that  it  was  at  his  instigation  that  they  had  come  to  reprove 
him,  grew  angry  and  said  many  things  against  them,  designating 
them  spies,  and  then  adding  that  it  was  Ch&tillon  who  had  told 
them  this,  and  had  sent  them  to  talk  to  him  ;  and  with  such 
indignation  that  he  went  on  to  say  much  evil  of  Chatillon  and 
his  whole  House  .  .  .  accusing  them  of  arrogance,  of  presump- 
tion, and  of  not  only  wishing  to  put  themselves  on  a  level  with 
princes,  when  they  were  naught  but  gentlemen  of  humble  rank, 
but  even  of  daring  to  insult  him  ;  and  that  it  was  not  in 
his  nature  to  suffer  this  any  longer.  Through  these  and 
such-like  words,  and  even  worse,  it  came  about  that  Chatillon 
separated  himself  from  Conde.  The  greater  part  of  the 
Huguenots  have  done  likewise,  so  that  he  finds  himself  now 
almost  alone." 

However,  a  little  reflection  sufficed  to  convince  the 
Huguenot  leaders  that  the  discredit  which  it  was  bringing  upon 
their  Faith  was  not  the  most  serious  aspect  of  Conde's  infatua- 
tion for  Isabelle ;  in  other  words,  that  Catherine  was  at  the 
bottom  of  the  affair,  and  had  deliberately  thrown  the  two 
together  again,  "  with  a  view  to  the  prince  becoming  what  his 
brother  had  already  become  by  means  of  la  Rouet."  "  Suspect- 
ing which,"  continues  the  writer  of  the  letter  already  cited,  "  the 
gentlemen  of  Conde's  party  took  counsel  together  to  find  a 
remedy  for  so  great  an  evil,  and  resolved  upon  three  courses  : 
first,  that  the  ministers  should  speak  out  roundly  to  him, 
representing  the  personal  danger  and  disgrace  of  the  affair,  and 
the  scandal  common  to  the  whole  Religion,  since  he  was  its 
chief,  and  persuade  him,  if  he  could  not  keep  continent,  to  take 
a  wife.  The  second  remedy,  if  the  first  did  not  succeed,  was 
for  the  principal  gentleman  of  the  Religion,  acting  in  common 
accord,  and  his  own  intimate  friends,  to  wait  upon  him  and 
address  to  him  the  same  remonstrances,  making  him  understand 
that,  if  he  did  not  separate  himself  from  la  Limeuil,  they  would 


REMONSTRANCES    OF   HUGUENOT  DIVINES    81 

leave  him  alone ;  and,  in  effect,  if  he  declined  to  do  so, 
they  would  leave  him.  The  third  remedy,  in  the  event  of  the 
first  two  not  succeeding,  was  that  la  Limeuil  should  be 
excommunicated,  anathematized,  and  delivered  into  the  power 
of  Satan." 

In  accordance  with  these  resolutions,  a  deputation  selected 
from  the  most  prominent  Huguenot  divines  waited  upon  the 
backsliding  prince  at  Valery  and  endeavoured  to  awaken  him 
to  a  sense  of  the  error  of  his  ways.  Conde  received  his 
reverend  friends  courteously  enough,  but  declared  that  he 
".'could  not  keep  continent  and  could  not  take  a  wife,  since  it 
was  difficult  to  find  a  person  of  his  own  rank  belonging 
to  the  same  religion,  and  impossible  to  find  one  of  another 
religion." 

Sadly  the  ministers  withdrew,  and  the  lay  deputation 
advanced  to  the  attack.  It  met  with  anything  but  a  cordial 
reception  :  indeed,  his  Highness  expressed  his  opinion  of  its 
interference  with  his  private  affairs  in  such  exceedingly  plain 
language  that  it  was  obliged  to  beat  a  precipitate  retreat. 
Whence,  we  are  told,  "  the  Religion  found  itself  in  great 
trouble  and  knew  not  what  further  to  do,  since  it  feared  to 
make  matters  worse  by  excommunicating  la  Limeuil,  Conde 
being  of  a  nature  so  inclined  to  women  that  there  was  great 
danger  lest  la  Limeuil  should  have  more  power  over  him  than 
the  Religion." 

The  counsel  of  the  more  prudent  members  of  the  party  was 
to  leave  things  alone,  and  to  trust  to  time.  It  proved  a  wise 
decision.  Passions  of  this  kind  are  more  frequently  nourished 
than  overcome  by  opposition  ;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
greater  the  facilities  for  enjoying  the  society  of  the  enchantress, 
the  more  speedily  do  disillusion  and  lassitude  arrive.  After 
the  first  rapture  of  the  reunion,  Conde  began  to  ask  himself 
whether,  after  all,  he  was  not  acting  very  unwisely  in  quarrelling 
with  his  personal  friends  and  jeopardizing  his  political  future 
for  the  sake  of  a  girl  who  had  been  the  cause  of  so  much 
scandal,  and  who,  he  had  good  reason  to  believe,  had  not  even 
troubled  to  remain  faithful  to  him.     Isabelle,  perceiving  that 

G 


82         THE  LOVE-AFFAIRS  OF  THE  COND&S 

the  prince  had  not  the  least  intention  of  regularizing  their 
connexion,  and  mortified  by  the  manner  in  which  her  name  was 
being  bandied  about,  began  to  regard  Conde  as  the  author  of 
her  misfortunes.  Hence  arose  quarrels,  tears,  recriminations. 
Conde  reproached  Isabelle  with  her  intimacy  with  Du  Fresne 
and  others.  Isabelle  retorted  by  accusing  the  prince  of  neglect- 
ing her  for  the  Marechale  de  Saint-Andre,  to  whom,  in  recog- 
nition of  the  gift  of  Valery,  he  had  felt  obliged  to  pay  some 
fugitive  attentions,  and  did  not  fail  to  take  advantage  of  the 
opportunity  which  his  acceptance  of  the  marechale's  calculating 
generosity  afforded  her  for  the  exercise  of  her  powers  of 
sarcasm.  Wit  is  a  dangerous  weapon  for  lovers  to  play  with, 
and  Isabelle's  was  sharper  than  a  two-edged  sword. 

At  length,  the  situation  became  so  unpleasant  that  Conde 
determined  to  put  an  end  to  it ;  and,  towards  the  close  of  the 
spring,  he  broke  of  his  own  free  will  with  Isabelle  and  was 
reconciled  to  the  Protestants.  They,  needless  to  say,  received 
the  repentant  prodigal  with  open  arms  and  lost  no  time  in 
setting  to  work  to  procure  him  a  second  wife.  They  found 
her  in  Mile,  de  Longueville,1  a  young  lady  who  joined  to  high 
rank  and  the  profession  of  the  Reformed  faith  considerable 
personal  attractions,  and,  in  September,  Conde  set  off  for  Niort 
to  obtain  the  King's  sanction  to  his  marriage,  "leaving  the 
Marechale  de  Saint-Andre  dissolved  in  tears  and  regrets  for 
having  been  so  foolish  as  to  consume  her  substance  in  vain 
expenses  to  acquire  the  quality  of  the  wife  of  a  Prince  of  the 
Blood." 

Catherine,  though  disappointed  at  the  reconciliation  between 
Conde  and  his  party,  was  greatly  relieved  that  the  prospect  of 

1  Frangoise  Marie  d'Orleans,  posthumous  daughter  of  Francois  d'Orleans, 
Marquis  de  Rothelin,  a  cadet  of  the  House  of  Longueville,  and  Jacqueline  de 
Rohan.  The  House  of  Longueville  was  a  branch  of  the  Royal  House  of  France, 
descended  from  the  celebrated  Comte  de  Dunois — the  "  Bastard  of  Orleans  " — son  of 
Louis  I.,  Due  d'Orleans.  His  nephew,  Charles  VII.,  gave  him,  in  1463,  the  county 
of  Longueville,  in  the  district  of  Caux,  which  had  been  ceded  to  Charles  VI.  by 
Bertrand  du  Guesclin,  half  a  century  earlier.  Dunois's  grandson,  Francois,  was 
created  a  duke  in  1505,  and,  in  1571,  his  successor,  Leonor,  brother  to  the  second 
Princesse  de  Conde,  received  from  Charles  IX.,  for  himself  and  his  descendants,  the 
title  of  Princes  of  the  Blood. 


A   MEAN   ACTION  83 

an  alliance  with  the  Guises  had  come  to  nothing  ;  and  Charles 
IX.,  on  her  advice,  not  only  expressed  his  approval  of  the 
marriage,  but  authorized  its  celebration  at  the  Court,  according 
to  the  rights  of  the  Protestant  religion,  where  it  took  place  on 
5  November  1565. 

The  new  Princesse  de  Conde  was  in  many  ways  an  estimable 
young  woman,  and  the  marriage,  which  was  to  be  cut  short  by 
the  prince's  tragic  death  three  years  later,  appears  to  have  been 
a  happy  one.  She  had,  however,  been  very  strictly  brought 
up  and  was,  moreover,  of  a  decidedly  jealous  disposition,  and 
she  was  determined  not  to  permit  the  souvenirs  of  her  husband 
to  be  dragged  about  France  by  his  former  mistresses.  No 
sooner  married,  than,  following  the  example  of  the  Duchesse 
d'Etampes  when  she  had  supplanted  Madame  de  Chateaubriand 
in  the  affections  of  Frangois  I.,  she  imperiously  demanded  of 
the  prince  that  he  should  require  Isabelle  to  restore  all  the 
presents  that  he  had  made  her  ;  and  Cond6,  who  was  one  of  those 
men  who  are  quite  incapable  of  resisting  the  caprices  of  the 
preferred  of  the  moment,  was  mean  enough  to  obey. 

When  the  messenger  sent  by  the  prince  informed  Isabelle 
of  the  object  of  his  visit,  she  flew  into  the  most  violent  passion 
and  made  so  terrible  a  scene  that,  had  he  not  happened  to  be 
a  Huguenot  of  a  particularly  inflexible  type,  he  would  doubtless 
have  returned  to  Conde  and  reported  the  failure  of  his  mission. 
As  it  was,  he  waited  patiently  until  her  fury  had  expended  itself, 
and  then  repeated  his  request.  The  lady  left  the  room  and 
presently  returned  with  a  packet,  in  which  she  had  placed  all 
the  jewels  she  had  received  from  Conde  and  a  portrait  of  the 
prince  by  a  celebrated  painter,  the  first  token  of  his  love  that  he 
had  given  her.  Sitting  down  at  the  table,  she  placed  the  por- 
trait before  her  and  decorated  it  with  an  enormous  pair  of  horns  ; 
and  then  contemptuously  tossed  it  and  the  packet  of  jewels  to 
the  astonished  messenger.  "  Take  them,  my  friend,"  said  she, 
"  and  carry  them  to  your  master  ;  I  send  him  everything  that  he 
gave  me.  I  have  neither  added  nor  taken  away  anything.  Tell 
that  beautiful  princess,  his  wife,  who  has  importuned  him  so 
much  to  demand  from  me  what  he  gave  me,  that,  if  a  certain 


84        THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS  OF  THE   CONDfiS 

nobleman— mentioning  him  by  name — had  treated  her  mother  in 
the  same  way,  and  had  claimed  and  taken  away  all  that  he  had 
given  her,  she  would  be  as  poor  in  trinkets  and  jewels  as  any 
demoiselle  of  the  Court.  Well,  let  her  make  use  of  the  paste 
and  the  baubles  ;  I  leave  them  to  her." l 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  Conde"  had  the  grace  to  feel  ashamed 
of  himself  when  his  messenger  returned  ;  but  since,  in  common 
with  the  majority  of  his  contemporaries,  he  possessed  a  pretty 
thick  skin,  we  are  inclined  to  doubt  whether  such  a  reproof 
would  have  occasioned  him  more  than  a  momentary  vexation. 
Public  opinion,  we  are  told,  however,  judged  him  very  severely, 
and  declared  that  he  had  acted  most  ungenerously,"  in  having 
despoiled  this  poor  lady,  who  had  honestly  earned  such  presents 
par  la  sueur  de  son  corps" 2 

In  one  of  his  despatches,  written  soon  after  the  rupture 
between  the  prince  and  Isabelle,  Sir  Thomas  Smith  announced 
that  "the  Prince  de  Conde  had  married  la  Limoel  (sic)  to  a 
gentleman  of  his  and  given  them  1 5,000  livres  a  year."  3  The 
Ambassador  had  been  misinformed,  for  Isabelle  was  still  single 
at  the  time,  nor  was  this  project,  if  it  really  existed,  ever 
realized.  The  lady,  however,  notwithstanding  the  notoriety  of 
her  relations  with  Conde  and  the  criminal  charge  which  had 
been  brought  against  her,  was  not  long  in  finding  a  husband. 

There  was  at  this  time  in  Paris  an  Italian  banker  named 
Scipion  Sardini,  who,  by  the  favour  of  Catherine  de'  Medici,  who 
appears  to  have  dipped  pretty  frequently  into  his  purse,  had 
contrived  to  amass  an  immense  fortune,  and  "  from  a  little 
sardine  had  grown  into  a  big  whale."  He  had  recently  acquired 
the  estate  and  the  beautiful  chateau  of  Chaumont-sur-Loire  and 
the  title  of  baron  to  go  with  it,  and  desired  to  find  a  high-born 
damsel  who  would  be  willing  to  share  his  prosperity.  Since 
however,  high-born  damsels  were,  for  the  most  part,  inclined  to 
look  askance  at  a  suitor  whose  origin  was  shrouded  in  impene- 
trable obscurity,  he  cast  his  eyes  in  the  direction  of  Isabelle, 

1  Brantome.  2  Ibid. 

3  Smith  to  the  Earl  of  Leicester,  5  May,  1565.  State  Papers  (Elizabeth),  Foreign 
Series. 


A  STORMY  MANAGE  85 

who,  he  judged,  could  not  afford  to  be  so  fastidious ;  and  laid 
his  heart,  his  fortune,  and  his  brand-new  title  at  her  feet.  She 
condescended  to  accept  them,  and  went  to  live  at  the  sumptuous 
Hotel  Sardini,  situated  in  the  Quartier  Saint-Marcel,  at  the 
corner  of  the  Rue  de  la  Barre.  The  union  was  not  an  unquali- 
fied success,  for  Isabelle's  misfortunes  had  soured  her  temper, 
and  the  pretentious  parvenu  whom  she  had  married  had  good 
reason  to  regret  that  he  had  not  contented  himself  with  a  more 
amiable,  if  less  aristocratic,  consort.  A  great  lady  still,  despite 
her  lost  reputation,  she  never  forgave  her  husband  his  lowly 
origin,  and  permitted  no  opportunity  to  pass  of  allowing  him 
to  see  how  much  she  despised  him  ;  and,  whenever  he  had  been 
so  unfortunate  as  to  displease  her,  which  appears  to  have 
happened  pretty  frequently,  she  would  remind  the  poor  man  of 
the  honour  which  she,  a  woman  of  such  noble  birth,  had  done 
him  in  giving  him  her  hand.  To  which  Sardini  would  reply, 
not  without  reason :  "  I  have  done  more  for  you  ;  I  have  dis- 
honoured myself  in  order  to  restore  you  your  honour !  "  Then 
Isabelle  would  hurl  at  him  a  perfect  volley  of  invective,  until, 
fearing  that  it  might  be  followed  by  missiles  of  a  more  substan- 
tial kind,  he  would  fly  from  her  presence  and  take  refuge  in  his 
own  apartments. 

These  perpetual  quarrels,  however,  did  not  prevent  this  ill- 
assorted  couple  from  having  three  children  :  two  sons  and  a 
daughter,  of  whom  the  latter,  Madeleine  Sardini,  is  said  to  have 
inherited  not  a  little  of  her  mother's  beauty.  Unfortunately, 
she  appears  to  have  inherited  her  quarrelsome  disposition  as 
well,  as  did  her  brothers,  for,  after  their  parents'  death,  they 
went  to  law  over  the  division  of  the  Sardini  fortune  and  pro- 
vided the  gentlemen  of  the  long  robe  with  some  very  pretty 
pickings. 

We  shall  pass  briefly  over  the  last  three  years  of  Conde's 
eventful  life. 

In  September  1567,  civil  war  broke  out  again.  The  Protes- 
tants, alarmed  and  exasperated  by  the  refusal  of  the  Government 
to  disband  a  force  of  6000  Swiss  mercenaries,  which  had  been 


S6        THE  LOVE-AFFAIRS  OF  THE   COND&S 

raised  to  protect  the  eastern  frontier  from  any  aggression  on 
the  part  of  the  Spanish  troops  marching  from  Italy  to  the 
Netherlands,  and  by  the  rumour  that  this  force  was  to  be  used 
against  them,  rose  in  arms.  An  attempt  was  made  by  Conde 
and  Coligny,  at  the  head  of  a  body  of  cavalry,  to  seize  the 
person  of  the  King,  as  he  was  on  his  way  from  Monceaux^ 
where  he  had  intended  to  pass  the  autumn,  to  Paris.  But 
Charles  IX.  had  had  time  to  summon  the  Swiss  to  his  aid, 
and,  the  Huguenots  not  being  in  sufficient  force  to  risk  an 
engagement  with  these  valiant  mercenaries,  who,  "  lowering 
their  pikes,  ran  at  them  like  mad  dogs,  at  full  speed,"  he  reached 
his  capital  in  safety. 

Conde  followed,  and,  having  been  reinforced,  occupied  Saint- 
Denis  and  proceeded,  with  astonishing  daring,  to  blockade  Paris, 
although  his  army  does  not  seem  to  have  exceeded  6000  men 
and  he  was  without  a  single  piece  of  artillery ;  while  the 
Constable,  with  a  vastly  superior  force,  lay  within  the  city. 
Montmorency,  however,  who  always  carried  caution  to  excess, 
was  disinclined  to  take  the  offensive,  and  it  was  not  until  the 
Huguenots  had  committed  the  mistake  of  detaching  a  consider- 
able part  of  their  slender  forces,  under  Andelot  and  Mont- 
gomery, to  occupy  Poissy  and  Pontoise  that  he  ventured  to 
offer  battle.  The  royal  army  was  19,000  strong,  that  of  Conde 
certainly  did  not  exceed  3000  men  ;  but  the  prince  had  no 
thought  of  declining  an  engagement,  and  ranged  his  little  force 
in  the  plain  near  Saint-Denis.  The  Catholic  attack  was  repulsed 
all  along  the  line,  and  then,  while  Coligny  fell  upon  the  Parisian 
militia,  who,  arrayed  in  all  their  martial  finery — "gilded  like 
chalices,"  as  a  Huguenot  historian  puts  it x — formed  the  left 
wing  of  the  Royalists,  and  drove  them  in  headlong  rout  towards 
the  city,  Conde,  with  the  bulk  of  the  Huguenot  horse,  burst 
suddenly  upon  the  centre,  where  the  Constable  commanded  in 
person.  So  furious  was  his  charge  that  the  Catholic  cavalry 
were  broken  and  hurled  back,  and  the  Constable  himself  fell 
mortally  wounded.  "If  the  Grand  Signior,"  exclaimed  the 
Turkish  Ambassador,  who,  from  the  heights  of  Montmartre, 

1  D'Aubignc. 


BATTLE  OF  SAINT-DENIS  87 

had  witnessed  the  prince's  onslaught,  "if  the  Grand  Signior 
had  only  two  thousand  men  like  those  in  white" — the  Huguenots 
wore  white  surcoats — "  to  place  at  the  head  of  each  of  his  armies, 
in  two  years  the  world  would  be  his  ! " 

But  a  complete  victory  against  such  overwhelming  odds 
would  have  been  in  the  nature  of  a  miracle.  The  main  body 
of  the  Catholics  was  unbroken  ;  the  Marechal  de  Montmorency, 
the  Constable's  eldest  son,  assumed  the  command  and  rallied 
the  shattered  squadrons ;  and  the  Huguenots  were  being  hard 
pressed  on  all  sides,  when  the  failing  light  came  to  their  assistance 
and  enabled  them  to  fall  back  in  tolerable  order  on  Saint-Denis. 
The  Royalists,  disheartened  by  the  fall  of  their  leader,  did  not 
attempt  to  pursue,  and,  after  occupying  the  field  of  battle  for  a 
few  hours,  in  sign  of  victory,  re-entered  Paris. 

Conde's  position  being  no  longer  tenable,  he  decided  to  lead 
his  little  army  towards  Lorraine,  to  join  John  Casimir,  son  of 
the  Elector  Palatine,  who  was  advancing  to  his  assistance  with 
a  strong  force  of  German  mercenaries.  After  a  hazardous  march, 
he  crossed  the  Meuse  in  safety,  and  at  Pont-a-Mousson  effected 
his  junction  with  the  Germans.  Having  now  once  more  a  con- 
siderable army  at  his  disposal,  he  turned  again  towards  Paris, 
and,  at  the  end  of  February  1658,  laid  siege  to  Chartres. 
Negotiations  for  peace  had,  however,  already  begun ;  and  a 
month  later  (23  March)  the  Peace  of  Longjumeau,  which 
reaffirmed  the  Amboise  Edict,  put  an  end  to  the  second  war. 

It  was  merely  a  respite,  for  the  Court  had  determined  on  the 
ruin  of  the  Huguenots,  and,  at  the  end  of  August,  orders  were 
issued  for  the  arrest  of  Conde  and  Coligny,  who  were  at  the 
former's  chateau  of  Noyers,  in  Burgundy.  Warned  in  time, 
they  succeeded  in  effecting  their  escape  with  their  families, 
traversed  the  whole  breadth  of  France,  and  gained  the  sheltering 
walls  of  La  Rochelle,  where  they  were  joined  by  Jeanne  d'Albret, 
and  her  young  son,  Henri  of  Navarre.1 

1  It  was  a  perilous  journey,  for  they  were  hotly  pursued,  and  had  not  the  Loire 
risen  in  sudden  flood  just  after  they  had  forded  it  near  Sancerre,  and  arrested  the 
pursuit,  they  would  certainly  have  been  captured.  The  fugitives  saw  in  this  event 
the  direct  interposition  ot  Providence  in  their  favour,  and  falling  on  their  knees,  sang 
the  Psalm  :  In  exitu  Israel, 


88        THE  LOVE-AFFAIRS  OF  THE  COND&S 

The  third  War  of  Religion  began  forthwith,  and  was  con- 
ducted with  pitiless  cruelty  on  both  sides.  The  results  of  the 
autumn  campaign  of  1568  were  favourable  to  the  Protestants, 
who  mastered  almost  all  the  South  and  West.  But,  with  the 
new  year,  their  fortunes  changed.  In  February,  Conde  and 
Coligny  with  the  main  Huguenot  army  marched  eastwards  to 
meet  their  German  allies,  who  were  advancing  from  the  Rhine. 
Finding,  however,  that  Tavannes,  who  directed  the  Catholics, 
under  the  name  of  the  Due  d'Anjou  (afterwards  Henri  III.),  had 
divined  this  movement  and  was  preparing  to  oppose  it,  they 
turned  to  the  South- West,  with  the  intention  of  effecting  their 
junction  with  the  Huguenot  forces  from  Quercy.  Tavannes, 
however,  outmarched  them  and  barred  their  way,  upon  which 
they  decided  to  turn  to  the  North,  seize  one  of  the  passages  of 
the  Loire,  and  join  hands  with  the  Germans.  But  Tavannes 
followed  close  on  their  heels,  crossed  the  Charente  by  a  stratagem, 
and  fell  upon  the  rearguard  of  the  Huguenots,  under  Coligny, 
near  Jarnac  (13  March). 

On  learning  that  the  Admiral  was  attacked,  Conde,  who  had 
left  Jarnac  with  the  main  body  of  the  army  that  morning,  turned 
back  at  once,  and,  after  sending  orders  to  the  rest  of  his  troops 
to  follow  him  with  all  speed,  hastened  to  his  assistance,  at  the 
head  of  three  hundred  horse.  "  For,"  says  Le  Noue,  "  he  had 
the  heart  of  a  lion,  and,  whenever  he  heard  that  there  was 
fighting,  he  longed  to  be  in  the  thick  of  it."  On  the  way,  he 
was  met  by  a  messenger  from  Coligny,  who  had  sent  to  beg  him 
not  to  make  a  useless  effort,  and  to  retreat.  "  God  forbid,"  he 
replied,  "  that  Louis  de  Bourbon  should  turn  his  back  to  the 
enemy  ! "     And  he  hastened  on. 

On  his  arrival  on  the  field,  he  found  Coligny  struggling 
against  almost  the  entire  Catholic  army,  and  in  danger  of  being 
surrounded.  An  immediate  retreat  would  have  been  the  wisest 
course,  but  to  this  the  prince  refused  to  consent,  and  drawing 
up  the  cavalry  in  a  long  line,  with  himself  and  his  little  band  in 
the  centre,  he  prepared  to  charge  the  dense  columns  of  the  enemy. 
A  day  or  two  before,  his  left  arm  had  been  badly  crushed  by  a 
fall  from  his  horse,  and,  now,  as  his  helmet  was  being  adjusted, 


DEATH  OF  COND&  AT  JARNAC      89 

his  right  leg  was  broken  by  a  kick  from  the  charger  of  his 
brother-in-law,  the  Comte  de  la  Rochefoucauld.  "You  see," 
said  he,  mastering  the  pain,  "  that  mettlesome  horses  are  of 
more  harm  than  use  in  an  army." 

Those  about  him  urged  him  to  dismount,  but  he  refused  to 
leave  the  saddle,  and,  pointing  first  to  his  injured  limbs  and  then 
to  his  standard,  which  bore  the  device :  "  Pro  Christo  et  patrid 
dulce  periculum"  he  cried  :  "  Nobles  of  France,  behold  the  moment 
so  long  desired  !  Remember  in  what  plight  Louis  de  Bourbon 
goes  into  battle  for  Christ  and  country  !  " l 

Then,  with  his  three  hundred  horse,  he  threw  himself  on  the 
Catholic  cavalry  and  drove  them  back  in  confusion  on  the 
"  bataille?  which  the  Due  d'Anjou  led  in  person.  But  the  charges 
of  Coligny  on  the  right,  and  Montgommery  on  the  left,  failed 
completely,  and  the  prince's  little  troop  was  soon  assailed  on 
all  sides  by  overwhelming  numbers.  Conde's  horse  was  killed 
under  him,  and,  impeded  by  his  injuries,  he  was  unable  to  mount 
another.  His  followers  gathered  around  him  and  fought  on 
heroically,  but  one  by  one  they  were  cut  down.  Among  these 
devoted  men,  d'Aubigne  tells  us,  was  an  aged  gentleman  named 
La  Vergne,  who  had  joined  Conde  accompanied  by  twenty-five 
of  his  sons,  grandsons,  and  nephews.  "He  and  fifteen  of  his 
relatives  were  left  dead  on  the  field,  all  in  a  heap." 

Soon  Conde  found  himself  almost  alone,  but,  with  his  back 
to  a  tree  and  kneeling  on  one  knee,  he  continued  to  defend 
himself.  His  strength,  however,  was  failing  fast,  and  perceiving 
two  Catholic  gentlemen,  d'Argence  and  Saint-Jean,  to  whom 
he  had  once  been  of  service,  he  called  out  to  them,  raised  the 
vizor  of  his  helmet,  and  handed  them  his  gauntlets,  in  token  of 
surrender.  The  two  gentlemen  sprang  from  their  horses,  and 
with  several  others  formed  a  circle  round  Conde,  promising  to 
protect  his  life  with  their  own.  Scarcely,  however,  had  they 
done  so,  when  Anjou's  guards  passed  by,  and  their  captain,  "  a 
very  brave  and  honourable  gentleman,  called  Montesquiou," 2 
learning  the  name  of  the  prisoner,  wheeled  his  horse  round, 
galloped  up  to  the  group,  and  shouting  :  "  Kill !  Mordieu  !  Kill !  " 

1  D'Aubigne,  '*  Ilistoire  universellc."  :  BrantQme. 


90        THE  LOVE-AFFAIRS  OF  THE  CONDES 

drew  a  pistol  from  his  holster,  and  shot  the  prince  through  the 
head  from  behind,  killing  him  instantly.1 

Thus  died — "  on  the  true  bed  of  honour,"  as  Jeanne  d'Albret 
expresses  it — Louis  I.  de  Bourbon,  Prince  de  Conde,  a  man 
typical  of  his  age  and  of  his  country,  alike  in  his  faults  and  his 
good  qualities.  If  the  former  were,  as  we  have  seen,  many  and 
glaring,  the  latter  were  no  less  conspicuous.  "In  courage  and 
in  courtesy,"  writes  La  Noue,  "  no  one  surpassed  him.  His  con- 
versation was  eloquent,  rather  from  nature  than  from  culti- 
vation ;  he  was  generous  and  affable  towards  all ;  he  was  an 
excellent  leader  in  war,  yet,  at  the  same  time,  a  lover  of 
peace.  In  adversity  he  bore  himself  even  better  than  in 
prosperity." 

The  battle  of  Jarnac  was  little  more  than  a  skirmish,  for  the 
greater  part  of  the  Protestant  army  had  not  been  engaged  at 
all,  and  its  losses,  except  among  the  cavalry,  were  inconsider- 
able. The  death  of  Conde,  however,  created  a  profound  impres- 
sion. The  Catholic  chiefs  fondly  imagined  that,  with  his  fall, 
the  Huguenots  would  cease  to  be  formidable,  and  their  joy,  in 
consequence,  was  extreme.  A  solemn  Te  Deitm  was  chanted 
at  the  Court  and  in  every  church  in  France ;  thanksgiving 
processions  took  place  at  Brussels  and  Venice,  and  the  captured 
standards  were  sent  to  Rome,  to  be  hung  in  St.  Peter's  as  a 
perpetual  memorial. 

By  the  orders  of  the  detestable  Anjou,  the  body  of  the 
murdered  prince  was  treated  with  the  most  shameful  indignity. 
"  The  same  night  that  the  battle  was  fought,  the  Due  d'Anjou, 
pursuing  the  enemy,  victoriously  entered  into  Jarnac,  whither 
the  body  of  the  prince  was  carried  in  triumph  on  the  back  of  a 
miserable  ass,  to  the  infinite  joy  and  diversion  of  the  whole 
army,  which  made  a  joke  of  this  spectacle,  though,  while  he 
lived,  they  were  terrified  at  the  name  of  so  great  a  man." 2 
For  two  whole  days  it  lay  exposed  to  the  effects  of  the  air  and 

1  By  the  orders  of  his  master,  it  was  generally  believed.  "He  (Conde),"  writes 
Brantome,  "had  been  very  earnestly  recommended  to  several  of  the  favourites  of  the 
said  Mofiseigneur  (Anjou)  whom  I  knew." 

8  Davila,  cited  by  Mr.  A.  W.  Whitehead,  "  Gaspard  de  Coligny." 


COND&  BURIED    AT  VENDOME  91 

the  vulgar  insults  of  Anjou  and  his  creatures,  and  was  then 
handed  over  to  Conde's  brother-in-law,  the  Due  de  Longueville, 
who  caused  it  to  be  interred  in  the  ancestral  vault  at 
Vendome.1 

1  Due  d'Aumale,  "Histoire  des  Princes  de  Conde." 


CHAPTER  VII 

Henri  I.  de  Bourbon,  Prince  de  Condd — His  personal  appearance  and 
character — Jeanne  d'Albret  presents  Henri  of  Navarre  and  Conde"  to  the 
army — The  "Admiral's  pages" — The  "Journey  of  the  Princes" — Battle  of 
Arnay-le-Duc — Conde  at  La  Rochelle — Henri  of  Navarre  is  betrothed  to 
Marguerite  de  Valois,  and  Conde  to  Marie  de  Cleves — An  awkward  lover — 
Marriage  of  Cond<5 — Massacre  of  Saint-Bartholomew — The  King  of  Navarre 
and  Conde  are  ordered  to  abjure  their  religion — Firmness  of  the  latter,  who, 
however,  at  length  yields — Humiliating  position  of  Conde" — Intrigue  between 
his  wife  and  the  Due  d'Anjou — Conde  at  the  siege  of  La  Rochelle — Anjou 
elected  King  of  Poland — He  offers  the  hand  of  his  discarded  mistress, 
Mile,  de  Chateauneuf,  to  Nantouillet,  provost  of  Paris — Unpleasant  conse- 
quences of  the  provost's  refusal  of  this  honour. 

BY  his  two  marriages,  Louis  I.,  Prince  de  Conde,  had  had 
eleven  children,  of  whom  seven — six  sons  and  a 
daughter — survived  him.1  The  eldest  son,  Henri  de 
Bourbon,  was  at  this  time  in  his  seventeenth  year.  In  appear- 
ance, he  was  very  short,  like  his  father,  and  very  slightly  built, 
with  a  countenance  which  betokened  an  extremely  sensitive 
nature,  a  nervous  and  delicate  constitution  :  a  high  forehead, 
large,  expressive  blue  eyes,  a  long  face,  a  long,  straight  nose, 
and  thin   lips.     In  character,  save   in   the  matter   of  physical 

1  The  surviving  children  by  his  marriage  with  Eleonore  de  Roye  were : 
(i)  Henri  de  Bourbon,  Prince  de  Conde;  born  27  December,  1552  j  died  5  March, 
1588. 

(2)  Francois  de  Bourbon,  Prince  de  Conti,  born  18  August,  1558. 
(3}  Catherine  de  Bourbon. 

(4)  Charles  de  Bourbon,  afterwards  the  third  Cardinal  de  Bourbon,  born  30  March, 
1562. 

Those  by  his  marriage  with  Francoise  d'Orldans  were  : 

(1)  Charles  de  Bourbon,  Comte  de  Soissons,  born  3  November,  1566. 

(2)  Louis  de  Bourbon. 

(3)  Benjamin  de  Bourbon. 

Both  of  the  two  last  children  died  young. 

92 


HENRI   I.,   PRINCE   DE   COND&  93 

courage,  the  new  head  of  the  House  of  Conde  had  little  in 
common  with  his  predecessor.  Nor  is  this  surprising,  since  few 
princes  have  passed  a  more  gloomy  boyhood.  The  constant 
companion  of  his  mother  during  the  last  sad  years  of  her  life, 
he  had  shared  with  her  the  hardships  and  dangers  of  the  civil 
war,  and  had  been  shut  up  in  Orleans,  amid  the  horrors  of  that 
terrible  siege.  Returning  home,  he  had  seen  the  poor  princess, 
"  to  whom  he  had  plighted  his  boundless  reverence  and  love,"  1 
slowly  languish  away  before  his  eyes,  worn  out  by  sickness  and 
sorrow.  Then  had  come  Conde's  second  marriage,  and  the  lad 
had  been  left  to  the  care  of  bigoted  divines,  who  had  brought 
him  up  in  the  strictest  tenets  of  the  Calvinistic  faith.  Finally, 
scarcely  had  he  been  summoned  to  take  his  place  by  his  father's 
side,  than  that  father  had  been  foully  slain.  Thus,  at  the  age  of 
sixteen,  Henri  de  Bourbon  had  experienced  little  of  life  but  its 
sorrows,  and  was  a  thoughtful,  grave,  and  almost  melancholy 
youth,  without  any  of  those  social  qualities  which  had  made  his 
father  so  popular,  but  very  superior  to  him  in  the  earnestness  of 
his  religious  convictions,  and  ready,  as  we  shall  see  hereafter,  to 
suffer  for  the  truth  in  circumstances  which  overcame  the  courage 
and  constancy  of  some  even  of  the  boldest. 

On  the  day  of  Jarnac,  the  young  prince  and  his  cousin, 
Henri  of  Navarre,  had  been  with  the  Protestant  army.  But 
they  had  not  been  permitted  to  take  any  part  in  the  engage- 
ment, and  had  been  ordered  to  retire  to  Saintes,  where  they 
were  joined  by  Jeanne  d'Albret,  who  at  the  first  news  of  the 
defeat  had  left  La  Rochelle.  Taking  the  two  lads  with  her,  the 
indomitable  Queen  of  Navarre  hastened  to  the  Huguenot  camp 
at  Tonnay-Charente,  and,  in  an'eloquent  speech,  presented  them 
to  the  troops,  and  made  each  of  them  swear  "  on  his  honour, 
soul,  and  life"  never  to  abandon  the  cause.  The  army 
received  them  with  acclamations,  and  the  young  Prince  of  Beam 
was  forthwith  chosen  as  its  leader  ;  while,  as  a  mark  of  its 
respect  and  gratitude  for  the  hero  whom  it  had  lost,  the  new 
Prince  de  Conde  was  associated  with  him  in  command. 

For   more  than  two  years  the   double  signature,  "  Henry, 

1  Comte  Jules  Detaborde,  "  feleonore  de  Roye,  Trincesse  de  Conde." 


94         THE  LOVE-AFFAIRS  OF  THE  CONDfeS 

Henry  de  Bourbon,"  appeared  at  the  foot  of  the  official 
documents  of  the  Reformed  party.1  But,  though  always 
accompanied  by  the  two  young  princes,  and  nominally  acting 
as  their  lieutenant  and  counsellor,  Coligny  had  henceforward 
the  undivided  command  of  the  Huguenot  army,  as  well  as  the 
principal  voice  in  determining  the  policy  of  his  party  ;  and,  by 
the  camp-fire,  the  lads  were  commonly  referred  to  as  "  the 
Admiral's  pages." 

The  young  Bearnais,  with  his  good-humoured,  sunburned 
face,  his  broad  shoulders,  and  his  wiry  frame  strengthened  and 
developed  by  the  manly,  outdoor  life  which  he  had  led  amid 
the  keen  and  bracing  air  of  the  Pyrenees,  presented  a  singular 
contrast  to  his  slight,  delicate-looking,  grave  cousin.  The 
Queen  of  Navarre  had  charged  him  to  love  Conde  as  a  brother 
and  "cultivate  with  him  an  affection  cemented  by  the  ties  of 
blood  and  religion  which  should  never  be  severed."  But,  though 
the  prince,  ever  a  dutiful  son,  seems  to  have  made  some  effort 
to  follow  her  instructions,  and  though,  during  the  remainder  of 
the  Queen's  life,  an  appearance  of  close  intimacy  was  strictly 
maintained  between  the  cousins,  their  characters  and  tastes 
were  far  too  dissimilar  for  much  sympathy  to  have  existed 
between  them,  and,  in  later  years,  their  relations  became  at 
times  very  strained  indeed. 

The  summer  and  autumn  of  1569  were  disastrous  to  the 
Protestant  cause.  Although,  owing  to  the  jealousy  between 
the  Court  generals,  in  May,  the  Duke  of  Zweibrucken's  German 
mercenaries  were  able  to  cross  the  Loire  and  join  the  main 
Huguenot  army,  the  combined  forces  effected  comparatively 
little,  and  at  the  beginning  of  October  they  experienced  a 
crushing  defeat  in  the  bloody  battle  of  Moncontour. 

If  the  Royalists  had  followed  up  their  success,  this  might 
have  proved  a  fatal  blow  to  the  Protestants ;  but  Charles 
IX,,  jealous  of  the  success  of  Anjou,  the  nominal  commander 
at  Moncontour,  himself  took  command  of  the  army,  and 
frittered  its  strength  away  in  besieging  Saint-Jean-d'Angely, 
thus   giving   the    Huguenots   time   to  reorganize   their   forces. 

1  Due  d'Aumale,  "Histoire  des  Princes  de  Conde." 


THE  "JOURNEY  OF  THE   PRINCES"  95 

Always  greatest  in  adversity,  Coligny,  taking  with  him  Henry 
of  Navarre  and  the  young  Conde,  started  southwards  from 
Parthenay  (6  October),  on  that  wonderful  march  afterwards 
known  as  the  "  Journey  of  the  Princes."  A  month  later  saw  him 
at  Montauban,  where  he  stayed  for  a  while  to  rest  his  troops,  and 
then,  crossing  the  Garonne,  he  mercilessly  ravaged  the  country 
south  of  that  river.  Recrossing  to  the  north  bank,  where  he 
was  joined  by  Montgommery  with  reinforcements,  he  swept 
down  on  Toulouse,  burned  the  country  houses  of  the  members 
of  the  Parlement  in  revenge  for  the  judicial  murder  of  one  of 
the  late  Prince  de  Conde's  gentlemen  two  years  before,  passed 
by  the  walls  of  Carcassonne  and  Montpellier,  and  entered 
Nimes.  Here  he  turned  to  the  North,  and  marched  through 
Dauphine  and  the  Lyonnais  to  the  very  heart  of  France, 
carrying  terror  and  devastation  wherever  he  went. 

Meanwhile,  a  Catholic  force  under  the  Marechal  de  Cosse 
had  gathered  in  the  Orleannais  and  marched  eastwards  to 
intercept  his  advance.  At  Arnay-le-Duc,  on  26  June  1570, 
the  two  armies  met.  The  Royalists  outnumbered  their 
adversaries  by  more  than  two  to  one,  and  were  well  provided 
with  artillery,  whereas  the  Huguenots  had  not  a  single  gun. 
But  Coligny  took  up  a  masterly  position,  which  prevented  the 
enemy  either  from  employing  their  cannon  or  from  outflanking 
him,  and  drove  them  back  with  heavy  loss. 

It  was  in  this  engagement  that  the  two  young  princes 
received  their  "baptism  of  fire."  Hitherto,  notwithstanding 
their  urgent  entreaties,  Coligny  had  refused  to  allow  them  to 
expose  themselves.  Thus,  though  they  had  been  with  the  army 
at  Moncontour,  they  had  been  ordered  to  the  rear  before  the 
battle  actually  began,  accompanied  by  so  large  an  escort  that, 
according  to  d'Aubigne,  the  Huguenot  forces  were  thereby 
seriously  weakened.  On  the  present  occasion,  however,  Coligny's 
position  was  too  critical  for  him  to  spare  an  escort,  and  Henri  of 
Navarre  was  accordingly  given  the  nominal  command  of  the 
first  line  of  cavalry,  while  Conde  was  at  the  head  of  the  second. 
Both  took  part  in  several  charges,  and  gave  abundant  proof  that 
they  had  inherited  the  bravery  of  their  warlike  ancestors. 


96        THE  LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE  COND&S 

The  victory  of  Arnay-le-Duc,  following  closely  as  it  did  on 
a  series  of  Huguenot  successes  in  the  West  of  France,  had 
mportant  consequences.  The  miserable  condition  of  the 
country,  the  exhausted  finances,  the  enmity  between  the 
Montmorency  and  Lorraine  factions  of  the  Catholic  party, 
the  jealousy  between  Charles  IX.  and  Anjou,  and  the  fear  of 
active  intervention  by  England,  had  all  combined  to  persuade 
Catherine  that  it  was  impossible  to  carry  on  the  war  much 
longer ;  and  she  now  decided  that  peace  must  be  made  with  as 
little  delay  as  possible.  Pius  V.  and  Philip  II.  made  every 
effort  to  dissuade  her,  the  former  warning  her  that  "  there  could 
be  no  communion  between  Satan  and  the  sons  of  light ; "  but 
their  remonstrances  were  unheeded,  and  on  8  August,  the  Peace 
of  Saint-Germain  put  an  end  to  the  war,  and  accorded  the 
Protestants  infinitely  greater  concessions  than  any  which  they 
had  yet  obtained.1 

The  two  years  which  followed  "  la  paix  boiteuse  et  ma/assise," a 
as  the  Peace  of  Saint-Germain  was  wittily  called,  were  passed 
by  Conde  chiefly  at  La  Rochelle,  which  had  now  become  the 
headquarters  of  the  Huguenots,  and  was  one  of  the  four  towns 
which  they  were  permitted  to  hold  as  security  for  the  strict 
observance  of  the  edict.  The  religious  earnestness  and  gravity 
so  far  beyond  his  years  which  the  young  prince  showed  had 
gained  him  the  entire  confidence  of  Coligny,  who  had  decided 
to  delegate  to  him  the  direction  of  the  Protestants  of  the  West ; 
and  it  was  Conde  who,  in  the  Admiral's  absence,  executed  his 
orders  in  Poitou  and  Saintonge  and  kept  him  informed  of  all 
that  was  passing  there. 

1  They  received  a  general  amnesty  and  the  restoration  of  their  confiscated  estates. 
They  were  admitted  upon  equal  terms  with  their  Roman  Catholic  fellow-subjects  to 
the  benefit  of  all  public  institutions,  and  declared  eligible  to  fill  every  post  in  the 
State.  They  were  permitted  to  appeal  from  the  judgment  of  the  notoriously  hostile 
Parlement  of  Toulouse  to  the  Cour  des  Requetes,  in  Paris.  Finally,  they  were 
permitted  to  retain  possession  of  four  towns  which  they  had  conquered  :  La  Rochelle, 
Cognac,  La  Charite,  and  Montauban,  as  a  guarantee  of  the  King's  good  faith,  on 
condition  that  Henri  of  Navarre  and  Conde  bound  themselves  to  restore  them  to  the 
Crown  two  years  after  the  faithful  execution  of  the  Peace. 

2  From  the  two  royal  plenipotentiaries  who  concluded  it,  the  Marcchal  de  Biron, 
who  was  lame,  and  Henri  de  Mesmes,  Sieur  de  Malassise. 


cond£  and  his  relatives  97 

During  the  greater  part  of  the  year  1571,  Jeanne  d'Albret 
and  Henri  of  Navarre  were  also  at  La  Rochelle.  If  Conde  had 
little  affection  for  his  cousin,  to  his  aunt  he  was  warmly 
attached,  while  she,  on  her  side,  seems  to  have  looked  upon 
him  almost  as  a  second  son.  As  for  his  step-mother,  the 
dowager-princess,  his  feelings  towards  her  were  the  reverse  of 
cordial.  Not  only  had  she  never  shown  him  any  sympathy  or 
affection,  but,  having  recently  abandoned  the  Reformed  faith 
herself,  she  had  surrendered  her  sons  and  stepsons  to  their 
uncle,  the  Cardinal  de  Bourbon,  to  be  brought  up  in  the 
Catholic  religion.  Her  conduct,  which  was  denounced  by  the 
Huguenots  as  an  act  of  infamous  treachery  to  her  dead 
husband,  had  naturally  occasioned  Conde  the  most  intense 
indignation,  but,  since  it  had  occurred  during  the  war,  he  had, 
of  course,  been  powerless  to  interfere. 

In  order  to  flatter  the  Huguenots  and  allay  their  suspicions, 
while,  at  the  same  time,  weakening  their  power  of  offence,  by 
bringing  their  nominal  chief  directly  under  her  own  influence, 
Catherine  de'  Medici  was  now  anxious  to  arrange  a  marriage 
between  her  only  unmarried  daughter,  Marguerite  de  Valois, 
and  Henri  of  Navarre ;  and  from  the  beginning  of  1571  active 
negotiations  were  carried  on  between  the  Court  and  La 
Rochelle,  and  Biron,  Cosse,  and  Castelnau  were  in  turn 
despatched  thither  to  confer  with  Jeanne  d'Albret  and  the 
Protestant  leaders.  Jeanne  received  the  overtures  of  the  Court 
with  mixed  feelings.  She  was  intensely  ambitious  for  her 
idolized  son  and  desirous  of  doing  everything  in  her  power  to 
promote  the  interests  of  her  party.  But  she  hated  Catherine 
and  all  the  Valois,  and  entertained  the  most  profound  distrust 
of  their  professions  of  friendship  ;  and,  had  the  decision  rested 
with  her  alone,  the  proffered  alliance  would  most  certainly  have 
been  rejected.  However,  the  Huguenot  leaders  were  practically 
unanimous  in  urging  her  to  consent ;  the  nobility  of  her  own 
little  kingdom  likewise  pronounced  for  the  marriage ;  and 
Henri  himself  added  his  persuasions  to  theirs.  And  so,  with  a 
very  bad  grace,  the  Queen  yielded,  and  early  in  January,  1572, 
left  Pau  for  Blois,  to  settle  the  preliminaries  with  Catherine. 

H 


98         THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   COND&S 

The  negotiations  for  the  marriage  of  Henri  of  Navarre  had 
been  preceded  by  the  arrangement  by  Jeanne  d'Albret  of  a 
very  advantageous  match  for  the  young  Prince  de  Conde.  The 
wife  selected  for  him  was  his  cousin,  Marie  de  Cleves,  Marquise 
dTsles,  the  youngest  of  the  three  daughters  of  Francois  de 
Cleves,  Due  de  Nevers,  and  Marguerite  de  Bourbon.1  Marie  de 
Cleves  was  not  only  a  great  heiress,  but  an  extremely  beautiful 
girl,  and  Conde  considered  himself  a  very  fortunate  young  man. 
He  had  reason  to  think  differently,  however,  before  he  had 
been  married  many  weeks. 

Conde  and  his  bride-elect  were  both  at  Blois  when  the 
Queen  of  Navarre  arrived  there.  It  was  some  years  since 
Jeanne  had  passed  any  time  at  the  Court,  and  it  had  changed 
very  much  for  the  worse  in  the  interval.  In  a  letter  to  her  son, 
she  stigmatizes  it,  with  good  reason,  as  "  the  most  vicious  and 
corrupt  society  that  ever  existed."  "  No  one  that  I  see  here," 
she  writes,  "is  exempt  from  its  evil  influences.  Your  cousin, 
the  marchioness,2  is  so  greatly  changed  that  she  gives  no  sign 
of  belonging  to  the  Religion,  if  it  be  not  that  she  abstains  from 
attending  Mass ;  for,  in  all  else,  save  that  she  abstains  from 
this  idolatry,  she  conducts  herself  like  other  Papists,  and  my 
sister  Madame  la  Princesse 3  sets  an  even  worse  example.  This 
I  write  to  you  in  confidence.  The  bearer  of  this  letter  will  tell 
you  how  the  King  emancipates  himself;  it  is  a  pity.  I  would 
not  for  any  consideration  that  you  should  abide  here.  For 
this  reason,  I  desire  to  see  you  married,  that  you  and  your  wife 


1  The  three  girls  were  co-heiresses  to  the  great  wealth  of  the  Due  de  Nevers,  as 
he  had  left  no  son.  The  eldest,  Henriette,  Duchcsse  de  Nivernais,  married  Ludovico 
di  Gonzaga,  brother  of  the  Duke  of  Mantua  ;  the  second,  Catherine,  married  Antoine 
de  Croy,  Prince  de  Porcien,  who  died  in  1564;  and,  six  years  after  her  husband's 
death,  became  the  wife  of  Henri  de  Lorraine,  Due  de  Guise.  The  Prince  de  Porcien 
had  been  one  of  the  leaders  of  the  Huguenots  and  had  entertained  the  most  violent 
hatred  of  the  Guises.  On  his  death-bed,  he  is  said  to  have  thus  addressed  his  wife  : 
"  You  are  young,  beautiful,  and  wealthy ;  you  will  have  many  suitors  when  I  am 
gone.  I  have  no  objection  to  your  marrying  again,  if  only  it  be  not  the  Due  de 
Guise.  Let  not  my  worst  enemy  inherit  what  of  all  my  possessions  I  have  cherished 
the  most." 

2  Marie  de  Cleves,  Marquise  d'Isles,  Conde's  betrothed. 

3  Francoise  d'Orleans,  Princesse  de  Conde. 


MARRIAGE  OF  COND&  AND  MARIE  DE  CLEVES  99 

may  withdraw  yourselves  from  this  corruption  ;  for,  although  I 
believed  it  to  be  very  great,  it  surpasses  my  anticipation. 
Here,  it  is  not  the  men  who  solicit  the  women,  but  the  women 
the  men.  If  you  were  here,  you  would  never  escape,  save  by 
some  remarkable  mercy  of  God." 

Although  Jeanne  strenuously  resisted  all  attempts  of  the 
King  and  Catherine  to  draw  her  son  to  Blois,  she  felt  perfectly 
at  ease  in  regard  to  Condi's  presence  there,  for  the  young 
prince's  Calvinism  was  of  that  rigid  type  which  made  no 
distinction  between  pleasure  and  vice,  and,  unlike  his  cousin,  he 
had  never  shown  any  inclination  for  feminine  society.  He  had, 
nevertheless,  quickly  succumbed  to  the  charms  of  his  beautiful 
fiancee,  though  his  awkward  attempts  at  love-making  must  have 
aroused  no  small  amount  of  amusement ;  for  the  Queen  of 
Navarre  wrote  to  her  son  that  "  if  he  could  not  make  love  with 
better  grace  than  his  cousin,  she  counselled  him  to  leave  the 
matter  alone." 

The  marriage  of  Conde  and  Marie  de  Cleves  took  place  on 
10  August,  1572,  at  the  Chateau  of  Blandy,  near  Melun,  the 
seat  of  the  Marquise  de  Rothelin,  mother  of  the  Dowager- 
Princesse  de  Conde,  in  the  presence  of  Charles  IX.,  Henri  of 
Navarre,  his  fiancee  Marguerite  de  Valois,  the  two  queens, 
Catherine  de'  Medici  and  Elizabeth  of  Austria,  and  a  great 
number  of  noblemen  of  both  religions  ;  and  was  celebrated 
"  tout-a-fait  a  la  Huguenote"  For  the  Reformers,  however, 
it  seemed  to  take  place  under  somewhat  mournful  auspices, 
since  she  who  had  planned  it  was  no  more.  Jeanne  d'Albret 
had  arrived  in  Paris  in  the  last  week  in  May ;  on  4  June  she 
was  taken  ill,  and  on  the  9th  she  died,  at  the  age  of  forty-four. 
Sinister  rumour  were  circulated  concerning  her  death,  and  it 
was  asserted  that  the  Queen-Mother  had  caused  her  to  be 
poisoned.  But,  as  we  have  pointed  out  in  a  previous  work, 
there  can  be  no  'question  that  Jeanne's  health  had  been 
gradually  failing  for  some  time  past,  and  the  most  trustworthy 
evidence  goes  to  indicate  that  she  died  a  natural  death.1 

1  Seethe  author's  "Queen  Margot"  (London,  Harpers;  New  York,  Scribner, 
1906). 


ioo       THE  LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE  COND&S 

Immediately  after  the  marriage,  Conde  and  his  bride  came 
to  Paris  for  the  marriage  of  the  young  King  of  Navarre,  which 
was  celebrated  with  the  utmost  magnificence  on  Monday, 
1 8  August.  But  the  wedding  festivities  were  of  very  brief 
duration  ;  for  on  the  Friday  came  the  attempted  assassination 
of  Coligny,  and  on  the  Sunday  the  terrible  Massacre  of 
St.  Bartholomew,  to  which  Catherine  had  been  driven  by  the 
failure  of  the  lesser  crime. 

Very  early  in  the  morning — the  massacre  had  begun  about 
two  hours  after  midnight  by  the  murder  of  Coligny  at  his 
lodging  in  the  Rue  des  Fosses-Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois — the 
King  of  Navarre  and  Conde,  who  were  both  lodged  with  their 
brides  in  the  Louvre,  were  arrested  and  conducted  to  Charles 
IX.'s  cabinet.  "  Take  that  canaille  away  ! "  cried  Charles, 
pointing  to  the  attendants  of  Navarre,  who  had  been  appre- 
hended with  their  master  ;  and  the  hapless  gentlemen  were 
led  out  and  mercilessly  butchered  in  the  courtyard  of  the  palace. 
Then  the  half-mad  King,  who  was  beside  himself  with  passion, 
informed  the  princes  that  all  that  was  being  done  was  by  his 
orders  ;  that  they  had  allowed  themselves  to  be  made  the 
leaders  of  his  enemies,  and  that  their  lives  were  justly  forfeited. 
As,  however,  they  were  his  kinsmen  and  connections,  he  would 
pardon  them,  if  they  conformed  to  the  religion  of  their 
ancestors,  the  only  one  he  would  henceforth  tolerate  in  his 
realm.  If  not,  they  must  prepare  to  share  the  fate  of  their 
friends. 

Navarre,  of  a  more  politic  and  wary  disposition  than  his 
cousin,  and,  besides,  somewhat  indifferent  on  the  subject  of 
religion,  assumed  a  conciliatory  tone,  begging  the  King  not  to 
compel  him  to  outrage  his  conscience,  and  to  consider  that  he 
was  now  not  only  his  kinsman,  but  closely  connected  with  him  by 
marriage.  Conde,  on  the  other  hand,  courageously  replied  that 
he  refused  to  believe  the  King  capable  of  violating  his  most 
sacred  pledges,  but  that  he  was  accountable  for  his  religion  to 
God  alone,  and  would  remain  faithful  to  it,  even  if  it  cost  him 
his  life.  "  Madman  !  conspirator !  rebel !  son  of  a  rebel ! " 
cried  the  infuriated   monarch.     "  If  in  three  days  you  do  not 


ABJURATION   OF   CONDF.  AND   NAVARRE     101 

change  your  tone,  I  will  have  you  strangled ! "  And  he 
dismissed  them  from  his  presence,  with  directions  that  they 
should  be  most  strictly  guarded. 

The  conversion  of  the  two  princes  greatly  occupied  the 
Court.  The  young  Queen  of  Navarre,  a  fervent  Catholic, 
spared  no  effort  to  persuade  her  husband  to  return  to  the  fold 
of  the  Church,  and  found  zealous  auxiliaries  in  the  Cardinal  de 
Bourbon,  the  Queen's  confessor  the  Jesuit  Maldonato,  and 
Sureau  des  Roziers,  an  ex-Huguenot  pastor,  who  had  been 
converted  to  Catholicism  by  the  sound  of  arquebuses.  The 
astute  Bearnais,  who  already  seems  to  have  had  some  presenti- 
ment of  the  part  he  was  one  day  to  play,  was  not  the  man  to 
sacrifice  a  great  future  to  his  attachment  to  the  Reformed 
doctrines,  and  accordingly  feigned  to  lend  an  attentive  ear  to 
the  arguments  of  his  teachers. 

Conde  was  the  object  of  like  solicitation,  to  which,  however, 
he  replied  with  anger  and  contempt.  His  obstinacy  so  enraged 
the  King  that  one  day,  when  he  learned  that  the  prince  had 
proved  more  than  usually  contumacious,  he  called  for  his  arms, 
swearing  that  he  would  proceed  to  his  cousin's  apartments,  at 
the  head  of  his  guards,  and  slay  him  with  his  own  hand. 
Probably,  he  only  intended  to  intimidate  him  into  submission  ; 
but  his  queen,  the  gentle  and  pious  Elizabeth  of  Austria, 
believing  that  he  was  in  earnest,  threw  herself  at  his  feet,  and 
besought  him  not  to  stain  his  hands  with  his  kinsman's 
blood.  His  Majesty  yielded  to  her  entreaties  and  contented 
himself  with  summoning  Conde  to  his  presence,  and,  when  he 
appeared,  shouting  in  a  voice  of  thunder :  "  Mass,  death,  or 
Bastille !  Choose  ! "  "  God  allows  me  not,  my  lord  and  king," 
replied  the  prince  quietly,  "  to  choose  the  first.  Of  the  others, 
be  it  at  your  pleasure,  whichever  God  may  in  His  providence 
direct !  " 

Despite  this  bold  answer,  he  shortly  afterwards  consented 
to  abjure,  "  laying  upon  the  head  of  Des  Roziers  the  risk  of 
his  damnation  "  ;  the  King  of  Navarre  did  likewise  ;  and  on 
3  October,  the  "converted"  princes  addressed  to  the  Pope  a 
very  humble  letter,  begging  him  to  accept  their  submission  and 


102       THE  LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE  COND&S 

admit  them  into  the  fold.  Conde"  and  Marie  de  Cleves  also 
expressed  their  regret  for  having  allowed  themselves  to  be 
united  in  wedlock  without  the  rites  of  Holy  Church. 

Gregory  XIII.,  who  had  just  caused  a  medal  to  be  struck 
with  his  own  portrait  on  one  side,  and,  on  the  other,  a  destroy- 
ing angel  immolating  the  Huguenots,  was  graciously  pleased  to 
accord  the  petition  of  the  young  couple,  and  granted  them 
absolution  and  dispensation,  in  virtue  of  which  they  were 
married  again,  this  time  according  to  the  Catholic  ritual,  in  the 
Church  of  Saint-Germain-des-Pres  (December,  1572). 

Notwithstanding  their  abjuration,  the  King  of  Navarre  and 
Conde  were  still  regarded  with  suspicion  and  remained  in  a  sort 
of  quasi-captivity.  Their  position  was  a  difficult  one,  and  it 
must  have  needed  all  their  self-control  to  prevent  them  from 
openly  resenting  the  sneers  and  taunts  which  the  nobles  of  the 
Court  felt  themselves  safe  in  levelling  at  them.  "On  All 
Hallows'  Eve,"  writes  L'Estoile,  "the  King  of  Navarre  was 
playing  tennis  with  the  Due  de  Guise,  when  the  scant  considera- 
tion which  was  shown  this  little  prisoner  of  a  kinglet,  at  whom 
he  threw  all  kinds  of  jests  and  taunts,  deeply  pained  a  number 
of  honest  people  who  were  watching  them  play." l 

The  "kinglet,"  however,  knew  how  to  accommodate  himself 
to  circumstances,  and  was  often  able  to  turn  the  laugh  on  his 
own  side  by  some  lively  repartee.  After  a  while,  too,  Charles 
IX.,  who  had  always  entertained  a  strong  liking  for  Henri, 
began  to  treat  him  with  kindness  and  even  affection,  in 
consequence  of  which  even  the  Guises  felt  obliged  to  show  him 
a  certain  degree  of  deference. 

With  Conde,  however,  it  was  very  different.  To  one  of  his 
austere  nature,  this  Court,  which  had  degenerated  to  such  an 
appalling  extent,  owing  to  the  corruption  of  morals  produced 
by  the  civil  wars,  that  vice  had  become  the  mode,  and  virtue, 
even  ordinary  decency,  was  mocked  at  and  derided,  must  have 
seemed  the  very  anti-chamber  of  hell ;  and  he  was  at  no  pains 
to  conceal  the  disgust  with  which  it  inspired  him.  The  King  of 
Navarre   might  drink  and  gamble  with  the   murderers  of  his 

1  "Journal  du  regne  de  Charles  IX." 


HENRI    I    I)K    BOURl'.ON,  PRINCE    I)E   CONDI-. 

"ROM     A    LITHOGNAl'H    I'.Y    DF.I.l'ECH,    AFTEK    THE    PAINTING    I!V    MAUZAIS 


AN   UNFAITHFUL  WIFE  103 

faithful  followers,  and  make  love  to  the  high-born  courtesans 
who  had  passed  obscene  jests  on  the  stripped  corpses  of  the 
Huguenot  nobles  as  they  lay  in  the  courtyard  of  the  Louvre  on 
that  terrible  morning.  Policy  required,  he  said,  that  he  and  his 
cousin  should  dissimulate  their  feelings.  Well,  let  him  do  it ! 
For  himself,  he  would  have  no  dealings  with  them,  beyond  that 
which  ordinary  courtesy  demanded.  And  so  he  stood  aloof,  a 
gloomy,  silent  figure — an  object  of  suspicion,  dislike  and  deri- 
sion to  King  and  courtiers  alike — with  none  to  sympathize  or 
condole  with  him  in  his  loneliness  and  humiliation. 

For  even  his  wife  had  failed  him.  She  was  but  a  giddy 
butterfly,  who,  though  educated  in  the  Reformed  Faith,  had 
never  professed  any  attachment  for  it,  and  had  forsaken  it  with- 
out a  regret.  As  for  her  husband,  she  appears  to  have  married 
him  merely  because  he  happened  to  be  the  best  match  which 
offered  itself,  and  because  her  relatives  desired  it.  His  sombre 
nature,  embittered  by  the  new  trials  to  which  he  was  being 
subjected,  was  but  little  to  her  taste,  and  she  infinitely  preferred 
the  society  of  the  Due  d'Anjou,  who  had  conceived  for  her  a 
most  violent  passion. 

If  we  are  to  believe  Brantome,  this  affair  had  begun  some 
few  months  before  the  lady's  marriage  to  Conde,  and  Anjou 
had  not  been  permitted  to  sigh  in  vain.  "  This  same  prince 
[Anjou],"  he  writes,  "aware  that  she  [Marie  de  Cleves]  was 
about  to  marry  a  prince  [Conde]  who  had  displeased  him  and 
very  much  troubled  the  State  of  his  brother  [Charles  IX.], 
debauched  her  .  .  .  and  then,  in  two  months'  time,  she  was 
given  to  the  aforesaid  prince  [Conde]  to  wife,  as  a  pretended 
virgin,  which  was  a  very  sweet  revenge." 

We  can  well  believe  that  the  seduction  of  the  promised  wife 
of  an  enemy  would  have  been  just  the  kind  of  exploit  to  appeal 
to  the  future  Henri  III.  ;  but  Brantome  is  too  incorrigible  a 
scandalmonger  for  much  reliance  to  be  placed  on  his  un- 
supported testimony.  However,  that  may  be,  Anjou's  admira- 
tion for  Marie  de  Cleves  was  now  the  talk  of  the  Court,  and 
the  poet  Philippe  Desportes,  who  prostituted  his  muse  to  the 
services  of  the  last  Valois,  as  we  shall   see  Malherbe,  at  a  later 


104       THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   CONDES 

date,  minister  to  the  amorous  fancies  of  Henri  IV.,  hastened  to 
immortalize  the  affair  in  verse,  and  composed  an  elegy,  in  which 
the  lovers  figured  under  the  names  of  Eurylas  and  Olympias, 
and  the  jealousy  of  the  husband  was  unmercifully  ridiculed. 

Anjou  was  already  provided  with  a  mistress  in  the  person 
of  one  of  Catherine's  maids-of-honour,  Renee  de  Rieux, 
demoiselle  de  Chateauneuf — called  la  belle  Chateauneuf — a 
ravishing  blonde  of  twenty  summers,  with  wonderful  blue  eyes, 
a  complexion  of  lilies  and  roses,  and  "  hair  which  looked  like  a 
crown  of  gold."  She  passed  for  the  most  perfect  beauty  of  the 
Court,  and  one  could  pay  a  lady  no  higher  compliment  than  to 
say  that  she  resembled  her.1 

Mile,  de  Chateauneuf  was  so  proud  of  the  distinction  which 
his  Royal  Highness  had  conferred  upon  her  that  she  was 
prepared  to  make  any  sacrifice  rather  than  lose  him.  Anjou 
already  showed  a  marked  taste  for  the  ornaments  and  dress 
proper  to  the  other  sex — a  caprice  which  he  carried  to  the  most 
extravagant  lengths  when  he  became  King  of  France 2 — and 
wore  habitually  "  a  double  row  of  rings  on  his  fingers  and 
pendants  in  his  ears."  In  the  hope  of  retaining  his  wayward 
affections,  the  poor  lady  ruined  herself  in  jewellery,  and  covered 
her  royal  lover  with  gold  chains  and  costly  trinkets  of  every 
description.  He  accepted  them  all  with  alacrity  ;  nevertheless, 
the  star  of  la  belle  Chateauneuf  paled  before  that  of  the 
Princesse  de  Conde  and  she  suffered  the  fate  which  had  befallen 
Isabelle  de  Limeuil.  She  was  not  called  upon  to  restore  the 
presents  which  Anjou  had  made  her — she  had  given  far  more 
than  she  had  ever  received — but,  on  the  other  hand,  she  had  the 
mortification  of  seeing  those  which  she  had  made  the  prince 
decorating  the  person  of  her  triumphant  rival.     "  In  order  to 

1  It  is  to  her  that  Bai'f  dedicated  his  "  Hymne  de  Venus  "  : 

"Noble  sang  des  Rieux,  si  mes  vers  ne  desdaigne.   .  .   ." 

2  After  he  succeeded  his  brother  on  the  throne,  he  appeared,  on  one  occasion  at  a 
Court  ball,  his  face  rouged  and  powdered,  the  body  of  his  doublet  cut  low,  like  a 
woman's,  with  long  sleeves  falling  to  the  ground,  and  a  string  of  pearls  round  his 
neck, 

"  Si  qu'au  premier  abord,  chacun  etoit  en  peine 
S'il  voyoit  un  roi  femme  ou  bien  un  homme  reine." 


HUMILIATING   SITUATION   OF  COND&       105 

show,"  writes  Brantome,  "  that  he  had  abandoned  his  former 
mistress  for  her  [the  Princesse  de  Conde],  and  that  he  desired  to 
honour  and  serve  her  entirely,  without  bestowing  a  thought  on 
the  other,  he  gave  her  all  the  favours,  jewels,  rings,  portraits, 
bracelets,  and  pretty  conceits  of  every  kind  which  his  former 
mistress  had  given  him,  which  being  perceived  by  her,  she  was 
like  to  die  with  mortification,  and  was  unable  to  keep  silence 
about  it,  but  was  contented  to  compromise  the  reputation  of  the 
other  by  compromising  her  own." 

The  amours  of  Anjou  and  Marie  de  Cldves  were  interrupted 
by  the  outbreak  of  the  fourth  civil  war.  For  a  moment, 
Catherine  had  deluded  herself  into  the  belief  that  the  Huguenot 
party  was  expiring  at  her  feet,  but  she  soon  learned  that 
religions  do  not  die  beneath  the  knives  of  assassins.  Coligny, 
La  Rochefoucauld,  Soubise,  Pilles,  and  other  aristocratic  leaders 
had  perished  in  the  St.  Bartholomew  ;  Navarre  and  Conde  had 
been  constrained  to  renounce  their  faith  ;  Montgommery  and  La 
Noue  were  in  exile  ;  the  Protestant  noblesse  was  disheartened 
and  disorganized  by  the  loss  of  its  chiefs.  But  the  popular 
element  in  the  Reform  party  saved  it,  and  raised  the  banner 
which  was  falling  from  the  hands  of  the  nobility.  The  citizens 
of  La  Rochelle,  Montauban  and  Sancerre  continued  the  struggle 
which  the  Bourbons  and  Chatillons  had  begun,  demanding  not 
only  religious  toleration,  but  the  redress  of  political  grievances  ; 
and  other  towns  in  the  South  and  West  followed  their 
example. 

The  Government  determined  on  the  reduction  of  La 
Rochelle,  and  a  formidable  army  was  despatched  thither,  under 
the  command  of  Anjou  ;  and  the  "  converted  "  Bourbons  were 
ordered  to  accompany  it.  The  unhappy  Conde  must  have  felt 
that  his  cup  of  humiliation  was  indeed  filled  to  overflowing  when 
he  found  himself  marching  against  the  stronghold  of  Protes- 
tantism— against  those  brave  citizens  amongst  whom  he  counted 
so  many  personal  friends— beneath  the  banner  of  the  man  who, 
after  causing  his  father  to  be  murdered,  had  robbed  him  of  the 
affection  of  his  wife.  When  the  siege  began,  he  courted  danger 
with  the  eagerness  of  a  man  weary  of  life  ;  but,  as  not  infrequently 


106       THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   CONDES 

happens  in  such  circumstances,  the  balls  passed  him  by,  and, 
though  men  fell  fast  around  him,  he  himself  remained 
unscathed. 

La  Rochelle  offered  an  heroic  resistance,  and  at  the  end  of 
four  months  the  royal  army  had  lost  nearly  20,000  men,  in- 
cluding the  Due  d'Aumale,  and  was  no  nearer  success  than  when 
the  trenches  were  opened.  In  the  meanwhile,  Anjou,  thanks  to 
the  dexterity  of  his  mother's  diplomatic  agents,  had  been  elected 
King  of  Poland ;  and,  on  the  pretext  that  it  was  undesirable 
that  the  Polish  Ambassadors  should  find  him  engaged  in 
besieging  a  Protestant  town,  acceptable  terms  were  offered  to 
the  Rochellois,  and  the  siege  was  raised.  A  month  later  (July, 
I573)>  the  Edict  of  Boulogne  granted  the  Huguenots  even 
better  terms  than  had  been  promised  them  by  the  Peace  of 
Saint-Germain. 

The  new  King  of  Poland  seemed  in  no  hurry  to  take 
possession  of  his  throne,  and  manifested  very  little  enthusiasm 
for  what  he  regarded  as  a  kind  of  exile,  far  removed  from  the 
Court  of  the  Valois  and  the  pleasures  which  he  held  so  dear. 
He  had  become  so  desperately  enamoured  of  the  Princesse  de 
Conde  that  the  prospect  of  parting  from  her  was  extremely  dis- 
tasteful to  him,  and  he  also  feared,  that,  in  the  event  of  the 
death  of  Charles  IX. — the  unhappy  King,  who  had  been  a 
changed  man  since  the  St.  Bartholomew,  was  now  in  consumption, 
and  it  was  obvious  that  he  had  not  long  to  live — his  absence 
might  result  in  his  younger  brother,  Frangois,  Due  d'Alenc,on, 
seizing  the  throne.  These  considerations  led  him  to  linger  in 
Paris  until  the  end  of  September;  and  it  was  only  when  the 
King  informed  him  that,  "  if  he  did  not  go  of  his  own  free  will, 
he  would  make  him  go  by  force,"  that  he  took  his  departure. 

Before  leaving  Paris,  his  Polish  Majesty,  smitten  perhaps  by 
compunction  for  the  shabby  way  in  which  he  had  treated  Mile, 
de  Chateauneuf,  sought  to  make  amends  by  providing  her  with 
a  husband.  In  this  intention,  he  cast  his  eyes  upon  a  very 
wealthy  citizen,  Duprat  de  Nantouillet,  provost  of  Paris.  The 
provost,  however,  showed  himself  very  little  flattered  by  the 
role  proposed  to  him  and  peremptorily  declined  the  lady's  hand. 


A  ROYAL  REVENGE  107 

Transported  with  rage,  the  prince  determined  to  be  revenged, 
and,  having  taken  counsel  with  Charles  IX.  and  the  King  of 
Navarre,  sent  word  to  Nantouillet  that  they  were  all  three 
coming  to  sup  with  him,  and  proceeded  to  his  house,  accompanied 
by  a  band  of  courtiers.  Their  visit  occurred  at  a  most  incon- 
venient moment  for  the  worthy  provost,  who  happened  to  have 
selected  that  very  day  to  pay  off  a  little  score  of  his  own  against 
some  rival  in  love  or  politics,  for  which  purpose  he  had  concealed 
four  bravos  in  his  house.  However,  he  put  the  best  face  on  the 
matter  he  could,  and  provided  his  uninvited  guests  with  a  most 
sumptuous  repast,  which  had  such  an  exhilarating  effect  upon 
some  of  the  company,  that  they  finished  up  the  evening  by 
breaking  open  their  host's  coffers,  and  carrying  off  all  his  silver 
plate  and  about  50,000  livres  in  money. 

Next  morning,  Christophe  de  Thou,  First  President  of  the 
Parlement  of  Paris,  requested  an  audience  of  Charles  IX.  and 
told  him  that  this  nocturnal  escapade  had  excited  the  greatest 
indignation  in  the  city.  His  Majesty  swore  that  he  had  had 
nothing  whatever  to  do  with  it,  and  that  it  was  a  gross  calumny 
to  assert  that  he  was  responsible.  "  I  am  delighted  to  hear  it," 
replied  the  magistrate,  "  and  I  am  going  to  order  an  enquiry  and 
punish  the  guilty."  "  No,  no ! "  cried  the  King,  "  don't  trouble 
yourself  about  this  matter  ;  simply  tell  Nantouillet  that,  if  he 
demands  satisfaction  for  the  loss  he  has  suffered,  he  will  get  the 
worst  of  it." 

The  unfortunate  Nantouillet  thereupon  decided  to  put  up 
with  the  loss  of  his  plate  and  money,  lest  a  worse  fate  should 
befall  him.  But  his  troubles  were  not  yet  over,  for  one  day, 
while  walking  in  the  street,  he  happened  to  meet  Mile,  de 
Chateauneuf,  on  horseback.  No  sooner  did  the  indignant  beauty 
perceive  the  man  who  had  dared  to  refuse  her  hand,  than  she 
rode  up  to  him,  and  proceeded  to  belabour  him  soundly  with 
her  riding-whip,  to  the  great  amusement  of  the  onlookers. 


CHAPTER    VIII 

Departure  of  Anjou  for  Poland — Conde",  compromised  in  the  conspiracy 
of  the  "  Politiques,"  escapes  to  Strasbourg,  where  he  reverts  to  the  Protestant 
faith — Death  of  Charles  IX.,  who  is  succeeded  by  the  King  of  Poland — 
Flight  of  the  new  King  from  Cracow — Death  of  the  Princesse  de  Condd  : 
extravagant  grief  of  Henry  III. — Condd  invades  France  at  the  head  of  an 
army  of  German  mercenaries — The  "Paix  de  Monsieur'''' — Conde  endeavours 
to  establish  himself  in  the  West  of  France — Formation  of  the  League  and 
renewal  of  the  civil  war — Condd  refuses  the  hand  of  Mile,  de  Vaude'mont, 
Henry  III.'s  sister-in-law — His  second  Odyssey — He  commands  the 
Huguenot  forces  in  Poitou  and  Saintonge — He  proposes  for  the  hand  of 
Charlotte  Catherine  de  la  Trdmoille — Letter  of  Mile,  de  la  Trdmoille  to  the 
prince — He  visits  her  at  the  Chateau  of  Taillebourg — Disastrous  expedition 
of  Conde'  against  Angers — 'He  is  obliged  to  take  refuge  in  Guernsey. 

THE  Court  escorted  the  King  of  Poland  as  far  as  La  Fere, 
Conde  accompanying  it.  On  taking  leave  of  the 
Prince,  his  Majesty  informed  him  that  he  had  obtained 
for  him  the  restoration  of  his  government  of  Picardy  and  per- 
mission to  proceed  thither  whenever  he  wished.  This  pretended 
favour  was  really  a  precautionary  measure,  for  fresh  troubles 
were  brewing,  and  Catherine  desired  to  separate  Conde  and  the 
King  of  Navarre,  and  deprive  the  latter,  who  was  erroneously 
believed  to  be  as  vacillating  as  his  father,  of  the  support  and 
advice  of  his  kinsman.  However,  Conde  was  well-pleased  to 
turn  his  back  on  the  Court,  where  he  had  suffered  so  many 
humiliations,  and  at  the  end  of  the  autumn  he  set  out  for 
Amiens. 

The  Massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew  had  been  not  only  a  crime, 
but  a  blunder  of  the  most  fatal  kind.  It  had  shocked  and 
horrified  the  moderate  Catholic  party — the  "  Politiques  "  as  they 
had  now  begun  to  be  called — and  convinced  their  leaders,  the 
Montmorencies,   that   the    Queen-Mother   intended   their    ruin 

10S 


CONSPIRACY  OF  THE  «  POLITIQUES  "        109 

after  that  of  the  Bourbons  and  the  Chatillons.  The  result  was 
a  rapprochement  between  the  "  Politiques  "  and  the  Huguenots, 
which,  by  the  beginning  of  1574,  had  developed  into  a  vast 
conspiracy  enveloping  nearly  the  whole  of  France.  Its  secret 
head  was  Catherine's  youngest  son,  the  ambitious  and  treacherous 
Frangois,  Due  d' Alencon,  who  had  long  chafed  under  the  sub- 
jection to  which  his  brother's  dislike  and  his  mother's  indiffer- 
ence had  relegated  him,  and  was  determined  to  assert  himself 
at  all  hazards. 

The  plans  of  the  conspirators  were  carefully  laid.  At  the 
end  of  February,  risings  were  to  take  place  simultaneously  in 
Normandy,  Picardy,  Champagne,  Poitou,  Dauphine,  Guienne, 
and  Languedoc  ;  while  a  bold  Huguenot  chief,  the  Sieur  de 
Guitry-Berticheres,  with  several  hundred  men,  was  to  force  the 
gates  of  the  Chateau  of  Saint-Germain,  where  the  Court  was 
then  residing,  and  carry  off  Alencon  and  the  King  of  Navarre, 
who  would  at  once  put  themselves  at  the  head  of  the  rebels. 

Unfortunately  for  them,  Guitry's  enterprise,  on  which  the 
success  of  the  whole  movement  hinged,  failed  through  his  own 
precipitation.  Owing  to  some  misunderstanding,  he  anticipated 
the  day,  and  appeared  with  his  men  in  the  environs  of  Saint- 
Germain  some  time  before  he  was  expected.  Catherine's 
suspicions  were  at  once  aroused,  and  her  remarkable  skill  in 
unravelling  the  tangled  threads  of  even  the  most  complicated 
intrigues  soon  placed  her  in  possession  of  the  whole  plot.  In 
the  early  hours  of  the  following  morning  (23-24  February),  she 
hurried  the  Court  off  to  Paris.  Charles  IX.,  travelling  in  a 
litter,  surrounded  by  the  Swiss  in  battle-array,  as  during  the 
retreat  from  Meaux,  while  she  herself  followed  in  her  coach 
with  Navarre  and  Alencon,  whom  she  was  determined  not  to 
allow  out  of  her  sight. 

Meanwhile,  the  rebels  had  risen  in  arms  and  issued  a 
manifesto  demanding  various  reforms,  though  it  was  obvious 
that  these  were  only  a  cloak  for  their  real  intentions,  and  that, 
should  the  rising  prove  successful,  its  effect  would  be  to  deprive 
the  King  of  Poland  of  the  succession  to  the  throne,  which  must 
speedily  become  vacant,  in  favour  of  the  more  accommodating 


no   THE  LOVE-AFFAIRS  OF  THE  CONDES 

Alengon.  Catherine,  however,  invested  with  full  powers  by  the 
illness  of  the  King,  took  prompt  and  energetic  measures  to 
meet  the  danger.  Three  armies  were  despatched  against  the 
rebels  of  Normandy,  the  South,  and  Central  France  ;  Navarre 
and  Alengon,  who  were  found  to  be  planning  an  attempt  at 
escape,  with  the  connivance  of  two  of  the  latter's  favourites,  La 
Mole  and  Coconnas,  were  shut  up  in  the  keep  of  the  Chateau  of 
Vincennes,  and  a  commission  appointed  to  examine  them  ; 
while  the  two  gentlemen  were  brought  to  trial  on  a  charge  of 
high  treason,  condemned  and  executed ;  the  Marechaux  de 
Montmorency  and  de  Cosse,  who  had  had  the  temerity  to  come 
to  Court  to  endeavour  to  justify  their  conduct,  were  seized  and 
thrown  into  the  Bastille,  and  orders  were  sent  to  Amiens  for 
the  arrest  of  Conde. 

Conde  had  not  yet  been  guilty  of  any  overt  act  of  rebellion  ; 
but  he  had  been  compromised  by  the  avowals  of  the  pusil- 
lanimous Alengon,  who  had  made  a  full  confession,  and  also 
by  those  wrung  from  Coconnas  in  the  anguish  of  torture.1 
Warned  in  time,  however,  he  succeeded  in  affecting  his  escape, 
and  fled  to  Strasburg,  where  he  lost  no  time  in  returning 
publicly  to  the  faith  from  which  in  his  heart  he  had  never 
wavered.  His  wife,  to  whom  he  had  been  reconciled,  and  who 
was  three  months  pregnant,  he  left  behind  him.  They  were 
never  to  meet  again. 

On  31  May  of  that  year,  the  unhappy  Charles  IX.  expired, 
"  rejoicing  that  he  left  no  heir  in  such  an  age,  since  he  knew  of 
his  own  sad  experience  how  wretched  was  the  state  of  a  child- 
king,  and  how  wretched  the  kingdom  over  which  a  child  ruled." 
On  the  previous  day,  he  had  publicly  declared  the  King  of  Poland 
his  lawful  heir  and  successor,  and  his  mother  Regent  until  his 
return  to  France  ;  and  Catherine  wrote,  urging  her  favourite  son 
to  return  without  delay  and  take  possession  of  his  birthright. 

1  The  Ducd'Aumale  ("  Histoire  des  Princes  de  Conde")  asserts  that  he  was  also 
compromised  by  the  confessions  of  La  Mole,  but,  in  justice  to  that  unfortunate 
gentleman,  we  must  observe  that  such  was  not  the  case.  La  Mole,  though  most 
horribly  tortured,  exhibited  remarkable  fortitude,  and  compromised  no  one,  with  the 
exception  of  Guillaume  de  Montmorency,  who  had  already  compromised  himself 
by  taking  to  flight. 


HENRI  III.  AND  THE   PRINCESSE   DE  CONDE     in 

The  latter  needed  no  pressing.  Although  he  had  only 
occupied  the  throne  of  Poland  a  few  months,  he  was  already 
heartily  tired  of  his  kingdom,  both  the  people  and  the  customs 
of  which  were  utterly  distasteful  to  one  of  his  indolent  and 
luxurious  temperament ;  and  he  was  impatiently  awaiting  the 
event  which  should  recall  him  to  France — and  the  Princesse  de 
Conde.  Absence,  so  far  from  diminishing,  had  only  served  to 
increase  his  devotion  to  that  lady.  "  I  love  her  so  greatly,  as 
you  know,"  he  wrote  to  one  of  his  confidants  at  the  Court, 
"  that  you  must  certainly  inform  me  of  everything  that  befalls 
her,  for  the  sake  of  the  tears  that  I  shed  for  her.  But  I  will 
speak  no  more  of  her,  for  love  is  intoxicated."  And  he 
employed  a  good  part  of  his  time  in  inditing  to  her  passionate 
letters,  written  in  his  own  royal  blood  ! 

So  soon  as  the  news  of  his  brother's  death  reached  him,  he 
quitted  his  sombre  palace  at  Cracow,  secretly,  in  the  middle  of 
the  night,  accompanied  by  some  of  his  French  attendants,  and 
rode  without  drawing  rein  until  he  reached  the  Moravian 
frontier,  hotly  pursued  by  his  indignant  subjects,  who,  singularly 
enough,  had  conceived  for  him  a  great  affection,  and  wished  to 
compel  him  to  remain  their  ruler.  The  explanation  he  subse- 
quently condescended  to  give  of  this  'escapade,  was  that  the 
condition  of  France  was  so  disturbed  that  even  a  week's 
delay  might  imperil  his  succession.  Nevertheless,  having 
once  shaken  the  dust  of  his  adopted  country  off  his  feet,  he 
seemed  in  no  hurry  to  return  to  his  own ;  he  preferred  to 
travel  by  way  of  Vienna  and  Turin,  where  he  extravagantly 
rewarded  the  hospitality  of  the  Duke  of  Savoy  by  the 
restoration  of  Pinerolo,  the  gate  of  Italy  ;  and  it  was  not  until 
the  beginning  of  September  that  he  turned  his  steps  towards 
France. 

At  Bourgoin,  he  was  met  by  Catherine  and  the  greater  part 
of  the  Court.  The  Queen-Mother  brought  with  her  the  King 
of  Navarre  and  Alencon,  whom  she  had  set  at  liberty,  having 
first  extracted  an  oath  from  them  that  they  would  "  neither 
attempt  nor  originate  anything  to  the  detriment  of  his 
Majesty  the   King  and   the  state  of  his  realm."     They  were 


H2       THE  LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE  COND&S 

still,  however,  kept  under  very  close  observation  by  her  Majesty, 
and  treated  very  much  like  naughty  schoolboys. 

After  a  short  stay  at  Bourgoin,  the  Court  proceeded  to  Lyons, 
where  it  remained  for  several  weeks,  its  sojourn  being  marked 
by  splendid  festivities.  In  the  middle  of  October,  a  sad  event 
came  to  interrupt  these  rejoicings  :  !news  arrived  that,  on  the 
13th,  the  Princesse  de  Conde  had  died  in  Paris,  in  giving  birth 
to  a  daughter.1 

Brantome  assures  us  that  Henri  III.  had  fully  resolved  to 
petition  the  Pope  to  annul  the  marriage  of  Marie  de  Cleves  and 
Conde — "  which  he  would  not  have  refused,  since  he  was  so  great 
a  king,  and  for  divers  other  reasons  that  one  wots  of  " — and  to 
make  the  lady  his  queen ;  and  it  would  seem  that  the  princess 
was  not  indisposed  to  such  an  arrangement.  However  that  may 
be,  his  Majesty  exhibited  the  most  extravagant  grief  at  the  death 
of  his  inamorata.  On  opening  the  letter  which  contained  the 
fatal  news,  he  instantly  fell  down  in  a  dead  faint,  and  was  carried 
to  his  apartments,  which  he  caused  to  be  draped  in  black  velvet, 
and  where  he  remained  shut  up  for  several  days,  for  the  first 
two  of  which  he  persistently  refused  to  touch  either  food  or 
wine.  When  he,  at  length,  reappeared,  he  was  clad  in  the 
deepest  mourning,  and  the  points  of  his  doublet  and  even  the 
ribbons  of  his  shoes  were  garnished  with  little  death's-heads. 
From  that  moment  little  death's-heads  in  gold,  coral,  or  crystal 
became  the  trinket  a  la  mode. 

From  being  the  life  and  soul  of  every  fete  and  pleasure-party, 
the  grief-stricken  King  now  plunged  into  the  most  extravagant 
devotion,  and  at  Avignon,  to  which  the  Court  had  removed, 
with  the  idea  of  affording  him  some  distraction  from  his  sorrow, 
nothing  would  content  him  but  to  join  the  Flagellants,  a  sect 
very  strong  in  the  Papal  city,  who,  dressed  in  sackcloth,  nightly 
paraded  the  streets  by  torchlight,  chanting  the  Miserere  and 
scourging  one  another  with  whips.  The  Court  and  the  Royal 
Family  were  compelled  to  follow  suit  ;  and  the  Cardinal  de 
Lorraine,  unaccustomed  to  such  mortification  of  the  flesh,  caught 
a  chill  which  caused  his  death. 

1  Catherine  de  Bourbon,  Marquise  d'Isles.     She  died  unmarried  in  1592. 


HENRI  III.  AND  THE   PRINCESSE   DE  CONDfi     113 

Theatrical  as  was  Henri  III.'s  grief  it  was,  nevertheless,  of 
a  more  durable  nature  than  such  exhibitions  usually  are  ;  and, 
some  months  later,  the  Cardinal  de  Bourbon  was  obliged  to 
have  the  body  of  the  Princesse  de  Conde  removed  from  the 
vaults  of  Saint-Germain-des-Pres,  in  which  it  had  been  tempo- 
rarily deposited,  the  King  refusing  to  enter  the  abbey,  as  long 
as  those  precious  remains  were  there.  Even  his  marriage  to  the 
sweet  and  charming  Louise  de  Lorraine,1  which  took  place  at 
Rheims,  in  February,  157s,2  three  days  after  his  Sacre,  seems  to 
have  been  a  tribute  to  the  memory  of  his  lost  love,  for  the  young 
lady,  whom  he  had  met  at  Nancy,  on  his  way  to  Poland  in  the 
autumn  of  1573,  had  first  attracted  his  attention  by  the  resem- 
blance she  bore  to  the  Princesse  de  Conde. 

Conde  was  still  a  fugitive  in  Germany  when  the  news  of  his 

1  Daughter  of  Nicolas,  Comte  de  Vaudemont,  and  Marguerite  d'Egmont. 

2  It  was  on  the  occasion  of  his  marriage  that  his  Majesty  made  another  attempt 
to  provide  Mile,  de  Chateauneuf  with  a  husband.  This  time,  however,  he  flew  at 
much  higher  game  than  a  provost  of  Paris, 'his  vassal,  Francois  de  Luxembourg,  being 
his  quarry.  Luxembourg  had  been  a  suitor  for  the  hand  of  Louise  de  Lorraine,  and 
his  addresses  had  been  very  favourably  received  by  the  lady,  until  the  appearance  of 
the  King  of  France  in  the  field  had  put  an  end  to  his  hopes.  The  prince  had  attended 
the  Sacre  and  the  marriage,  and,  a  day  or  two  after  the  latter  ceremony,  his  suzerain 
drew  him  aside  and  said  :  "  Cousin,  I  have  married  your  mistress  ;  but  I  desire  that, 
in  exchange,  you  should  marry  mine."  And  he  offered  him  the  hand  of  Mile,  de 
Chateauneuf.  Luxembourg,  making,  very  naturally,  a  distinction  between  the  two 
senses  attached  to  the  word  "  mistress,"  thanked  the  King  for  his  thoughtfulness, 
but  begged  him  to  give  him  time  to  think  the  matter  over.  "I  desire,"  replied  his 
Majesty,  "  that  you  should  espouse  her  immediately."  The  unfortunate  prince  then 
"  begged  very  humbly  that  the  King  would  grant  him  a  week's  respite."  To  which 
the  King  answered  that  he  would  give  him  three  days  only,  at  the  expiration  of 
which,  if  he  were  not  prepared  to  marry  the  damsel,  something  exceedingly  unpleasant 
would  probably  befall  him.  Before  another  day  had  dawned,  Luxembourg  was 
riding  for  the  frontier  as  hard  as  his  horse  could  gallop. 

Soon  after  this  episode,  Mile,  de  Chateauneuf  was  expelled  both  from  Catherine's 
squadron  and  the  Court,  for  impertinence  towards  the  young  Queen.  Having  thus 
fallen  into  disgrace,  she  condescended  to  espouse  a  Florentine  named  Antinoti,  who 
was  intendant  of  the  galleys  at  Marseilles.  The  marriage,  however,  had  a  tragic 
termination,  for,  "having  detected  him  in  a  compromising  situation  with  another 
demoiselle,  she  stabbed  him  bravely  and  manfully  with  her  own  hand."  Shortly 
afterwards,  she  married  another  Florentine,  Alloviti  by  name,  who  called  himself 
the  Baron  de  Castellane ;  but,  a  few  months  later,  the  baron  was  killed  in  a  brawl 
by  Henri  d'Angouleme,  Grand  Prior  of  France,  a  natural  son  of  Henri  II.,  by  Mary 
Stuart's  governess,  Lady  Fleming,  though  not  before  he  had  succeeded  in  men-tally 
wounding  his  antagonist. 
I 


H4   THE  LOVE-AFFAIRS  OF  THE  COND&S 

bereavement  reached  him.  It  can  scarcely  have  failed  to  cause 
him  pain,  for,  notwithstanding  her  relations  with  Henri  III.,  he 
had  remained  attached  to  his  wife  ;  but  the  reflection  that  now 
that  her  royal  admirer  had  reappeared  upon  the  scene,  she 
would,  had  she  lived,  most  certainly  have  brought  fresh  scandal 
upon  his  name,  must  have  served  to  temper  his  grief.  In  the 
previous  July,  he  had  been  proclaimed  chief  of  the  confederates 
by  a  Huguenot-Politique  assembly  which  had  met  at  Milhaud  ; 
but  he  made  no  attempt  to  return  to  France,  but  wandered  about 
Germany  and  Switzerland,  negotiating  with  the  Protestant  princes 
and  enlisting  soldiers.  With  the  aid  of  English  gold,  he  finally 
succeeded  in  raising  a  small  army,  and,  in  the  early  autumn 
of  1575,  he  despatched  part  of  it,  under  the  command  of  Mont- 
morency-Thore,  to  the  assistance  of  Alengon,  who  had  just 
succeeded  in  effecting  his  escape  from  the  Court  and  had  placed 
himself  at  the  head  of  the  confederates.1  But  this  force  was 
too  weak  to  effect  anything,  and  was  defeated  by  the  Due  de 
Guise  at  Dormans.2 

Having  levied  fresh  troops  to  replace  those  he  had  lost,  in 
the  following  April,  Conde  himself  re-entered  France,  after  an 
absence  of  two  years,  crossed  the  Loire,  near  La  Charite,  and 
effected  a  junction  with  the  troops  of  Alencon  in  the  Bourbonnais. 
Henri  III.  and  Catherine  were  obliged  to  negotiate,  and  on 
6  May  another  hollow  peace — the  "  Paix  de  Monsieur  " — was 
signed  at  Beaulieu.  The  Protestants  obtained  greater  conces- 
sions than  any  which  they  had  yet  enjoyed ;  the  Massacre  of 
St.  Bartholomew  was  formally  disavowed  and  the  property  of 
Coligny  and  other  prominent  victims  restored  to  their  heirs  ; 
and  eight  fortresses  were  handed  over  to  the  Reformers,  as 
security  for  the  due  observance  of  the  treaty.  Alencon  received 
the  addition  to  his  appanage  of  Anjou,  Berry,  Touraine  and 
Maine,  and  assumed  the  title  of  Due  d' Anjou,  which  had  been 
that  of  Henri  III.  before  his  accession  to  the  throne ;  while  the 

1  In  February,  1576,  the  King  of  Navarre  also  made  his  escape,  and  promptly 
reverted  to  the  Protestant  faith,  but  he  took  no  active  part  in  the  remainder  of  the 
war. 

2  It  was  in  this  engagement  that  the  duke  received  the  wound  in  the  face  which 
earned  him,  like  his  celebrated  father,  the  name  of  "A'  BalafrL" 


COND£  AND  THE  "PAIX   DE   MONSIEUR"     115 

King  of  Navarre  was  confirmed  in  his  government  of  Guienne 
and  Conde  in  that  of  Picardy.  The  last-named  prince  was  also 
guaranteed  Peronne  as  a  place  of  surety  and  a  gratification. 
But,  so  far  as  he  was  concerned,  the  treaty  remained  a  dead- 
letter  :  he  never  saw  a  sol  of  the  money,  nor  was  his  authority 
ever  acknowledged  in  Picardy,  where  Jacques  d'Humieres, 
governor  of  Peronne,  a  friend  of  the  Guises,  refused  to  deliver 
that  fortress  into  his  hands  and  formed  a  confederacy  between 
the  partisans  of  the  Guises  and  the  bigoted  Catholics  to  oppose 
him. 

Deeply  irritated  by  this  breach  of  faith,  Conde  determined 
to  seek  compensation  in  the  west,  and  proceeded  to  take 
possession  of  Cognac  and  Saint- Jean-d'Angely,  and  to  purchase, 
from  the  Sieur  de  Pons,  the  government  of  the  important  fortress 
of  Brouage.  Then  he  went  to  La  Rochelle,  where,  "by  a 
succession  of  very  able  orations,"  he  succeeded  in  convincing 
the  citizens,  who  were  at  first  inclined  to  regard  his  pretensions 
with  suspicion,  that  their  mayor  and  bailiffs  were  quite  unworthy 
of  their  confidence,  and  that  they  could  not  do  better  than 
entrust  themselves  to  his  protection,  with  the  result  that  in  a 
few  weeks  he  was  virtually  master  of  the  town. 

But  the  concession  granted  the  Huguenots  at  the  "  Paix 
de  Monsieur  "  had  aroused,  as  had  been  the  case  after  the  Peace 
of  Saint-Germain,  the  most  violent  resentment  among  the  more 
zealous  Catholics,  who  regarded  them  in  the  light  of  a  betrayal 
of  their  faith  ;  and  the  efforts  of  Conde  to  consolidate  his 
position  in  the  West  stimulated  the  growth  of  that  confederacy 
which  had  already  been  formed  against  him  in  Picardy.  The 
movement  spread  with  astonishing  rapidity,  especially  among 
the  fanatical  population  of  Paris,  and  soon  grew  into  a  general 
"  Holy  League,"  or  association  of  the  extreme  Catholic  party 
throughout  the  kingdom. 

The  formation  of  the  League,  whose  members  were  binding 
themselves  to  regard  as  enemies  all  who  refused  to  join  it, 
greatly  alarmed  Henri  III.,  and,  after  an  unsuccessful  attempt 
to  obtain  a  promise  from  the  Guises  that  they  would  do  nothing 
calculated  to  lead  to  a  breach  of  the  recent  peace,  he  decided 


u6       THE  LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   COND&S 

that  the  only  course  open  to  him  was  to  place  himself  at  its  head. 
This  decision  rendered  a  new  war  inevitable,  and  early  in  1 577 
it  duly  broke  out. 

In  the  South,  the  Huguenots  contrived  to  hold  their  own, 
but  Conde,  who  commanded  in  Poitou  and  Saintonge,  with  the 
title  of  the  King  of  Navarre's  Lieutenant-General,  fared  badly, 
largely,  it  would  seem,  through  his  own  want  of  military 
capacity,  and  was  soon  obliged  to  take  refuge  in  La  Rochelle, 
and  look  on  helplessly  while  the  enemy  conquered  the  whole 
of  the  surrounding  country.  Finally,  he  made  his]  way  into 
Guienne  and  joined  his  cousin,  upon  whom  he,  very  unfairly, 
endeavoured  to  throw  the  blame  of  his  ill-success  in  the  West. 
In  September,  the  Peace  of  Bergerac,  another  ineffectual  treaty, 
which  granted  in  the  main  what  that  of  the  previous  year  had 
already  promised,  nominally  put  an  end  to  the  war,  though 
private  hostilities — storming  of  chateaux,  assassinations,  and 
pillage — still  continued. 

At  the  end  of  the  following  year,  Marguerite  de  Valois 
joined  her  husband  at  Ndrac.  Catherine,  whom  the  King  left 
free  to  intrigue  as  she  pleased,  accompanied  her  daughter, 
bringing  with  her  her  "  squadron,"  whose  charms  wrought  much 
havoc  among  the  gentlemen  of  Henri's  little  Court.  She 
remained  there  several  months,  but  the  results  of  her  visit  fell 
very  far  short  of  her  expectations,  and,  on  her  return  to  Paris, 
she  made  overtures  to  Conde,  who,  since  the  last  war,  had  been 
on  far  from  cordial  terms  with  the  King  of  Navarre.  With  a 
view  to  separating  him  entirely  from  his  cousin,  she  offered  him 
the  hand  of  the  Queen's  sister,  Mile,  de  Vaudemont,  together 
with  a  considerable  pension  and  the  restoration  of  his  govern- 
ment of  Picardy.  Conde  declined  the  marriage,  on  the  plea  of 
difference  in  religion,  and  the  next  thing  Catherine  heard  about 
him  was  that  he  had  made  his  way  in  disguise  into  Picardy, 
and  seized  the  town  of  La  Fere,  by  means  of  a  stratagem 
(November,  1579). 

The  prince  was  left  in  peaceable  possession  of  La  Fere  for 
some  months,  though  his  efforts  to  extend  his  influence  through 
the  rest  of  the  province  were  unsuccessful.     But  when,  in  the 


SECOND   ODYSSEY   OF   CONDE  117 

spring  of  1580,  the  "Lovers'  War"  broke  out,  he  was  compelled 
to  abandon  his  conquest  and  take  refuge  in  the  Netherlands. 
From  there  he  crossed  to  England  and  endeavoured  to  obtain 
assistance  from  Elizabeth ;  but,  failing  in  this,  returned  to  the 
Netherlands,  and,  after  taking  part  in  the  defence  of  Ghent,  in 
which  he  exhibited  great  courage,  made  his  way  into  Germany 
and  concluded  a  treaty  with  the  Elector  Palatine,  but  on  such 
disadvantageous  terms  that  the  French  Protestants  promptly 
repudiated  it.  He  then  began  a  little  war  on  his  own  account 
in  the  Cevennes  ;  but  in  November  the  King  of  Navarre  made 
peace  with  the  Court  at  Fleix,  and  obliged  him  to  suspend  his 
somewhat  futile  operations. 

The  Treaty  of  Fleix  was  followed  by  four  years  of  anarchic 
peace,  which  were  passed  by  Conde  chiefly  at  Saint-Jean- 
d'Angely.  He  had  been  reconciled  to  the  King  of  Navarre, 
and  the  two  cousins  visited  one  another  on  several  occasions  ; 
but  this  reconciliation  was  never  really  sincere,  for  Conde  was 
not  a  little  jealous  of  the  military  reputation  which  Henri  had 
acquired  in  the  last  war,  and  he  and  the  more  fanatical  section 
of  the  Protestants  disapproved  of  the  moderation  shown  by  the 
young  king,  and  sometimes  endeavoured  to  compel  him  to 
adopt  measures  which  his  good  sense  condemned. 

On  11  June,  1584,  the  Due  d'Anjou  died  of  consumption  at 
Chateau-Thierry.  His  death  made  the  King  of  Navarre  heir- 
presumptive  to  the  French  crown,  and,  as  Henri  III.  had,  for 
some  time  past,  abandoned  all  hope  of  leaving  children  behind 
him,  the  question  of  the  succession  at  once  became  of  para- 
mount importance.  But  the  accession  of  a  heretic  to  the  throne 
was  repugnant  to  the  whole  Catholic  population,  and  was 
certain  to  be  violently  opposed  by  a  considerable  section  of  it. 
For  the  intimate  connexion  of  the  State  and  the  orthodox 
Church  was  held  to  be  a  fundamental  law  of  the  monarchy  ;  and 
even  men  of  moderate  views,  who  were  willing  enough  that  the 
Huguenots  should  be  tolerated,  were  alarmed  at  the  prospect 
of  their  domination. 

Very  intelligent,  whenever  he  could  contrive  to  free  himself 
for  a  time  from  his  idle  and  voluptuous  habits,  Henri  III,  had 


n8       THE  LOVE-AFFAIRS  OF  THE  COND&S 

foreseen  this,  and,  about  the  middle  of  May — that  is  to  say, 
about  three  weeks  before  Anjou's  death — had  despatched  one 
of  his  favourites,  the  Due  d'fipernon,  to  the  King  of  Navarre, 
"bearing  him  letters  in  which  he  admonished,  exhorted,  and 
entreated  him,  seeing  that  the  life  of  the  Due  d'Anjou,  his 
brother,  was  despaired  of,  to  come  to  Court  and  go  to  Mass, 
because  he  desired  to  recognize  him  as  his  true  heir  and 
successor,  and  to  give  him  such  rank  and  dignity  near  his 
person  as  his  qualification  of  brother-in-law  and  heir  to  the 
throne  deserved."  The  Protestants  testified  the  greatest 
uneasiness  at  these  overtures,  and  began  to  approach  Conde, 
with  a  view  to  his  adoption  as  the  leader  of  the  party,  in  the 
event  of  the  King  of  Navarre  again  renouncing  their  faith. 
But  their  alarm  was  groundless,  for,  though  Henri  held  but 
lightly  by  his  creed,  and  all  the  Catholics  about  him  besought 
him  to  remove  the  one  obstacle  to  his  succession,  he  felt  that 
the  time  had  not  come  when  he  could  afford  to  offend  the 
Huguenots.  And  so,  with  many  protestations  of  gratitude 
and  loyalty,  he  declared  himself  unable  to  accede  to  his 
Majesty's  wishes. 

The  fact  that  the  legitimate  heir  to  the  throne  was  a  heretic 
made  the  renewal  of  the  civil  war  inevitable,  and,  on  the  death 
of  Anjou,  the  Guises  and  the  League  at  once  began  to  organize 
their  forces  for  the  coming  struggle.  The  wretched,  vacillating 
King  was  intimidated  into  giving  them  his  countenance  and 
support ;  and,  on  15  July,  1585,  signed  the  Treaty  of  Nemours, 
which  promised  the  revocation  of  all  the  edicts  in  favour  of 
toleration,  and  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  League  all  the 
resources  of  the  Crown.  Having  secured  the  assistance  of  the 
temporal  power,  they  next  summoned  the  spiritual  to  their  aid, 
and  persuaded  the  new  Pope,  Sixtus  V.,  to  launch  against  the 
two  princes  a  Bull  of  Excommunication,  wherein  he  declared 
them  "  degraded  from  their  fiefs  and  baronies,  and  incapacitated 
from  succession  to  the  Crown  of  France."  The  cousins  issued 
a  scornful  response,  a  copy  of  which  was  posted  up  even  in 
Rome  itself,  and  war  began. 

Conde"  again  received  the  command  of  the  Huguenot  forces 


CONDfi   AND   MLLE.  DE  LA  TREMOILLE    119 

in  Poitou  and  Saintonge,  and  found  himself  opposed  by  the 
Due  de  Mercceur.  The  prince's  army  was  inferior  in  numbers 
to  that  of  the  Catholics,  but  he  contrived  to  surprise  the 
enemy  in  their  camp  near  Fontenay,  and  drove  them  in  con- 
fusion across  the  Loire ;  after  which,  strengthened  by  the 
arrival  of  reinforcements  for  La  Rochelle,  he  laid  siege  to 
Brouage. 

Conde's  attention  was  not,  however,  entirely  absorbed  by 
military  matters  at  this  juncture.  Notwithstanding  the  rather 
unfortunate  outcome  of  his  first  matrimonial  venture,  he  had  for 
some  time  past  been  desirous  of  marrying  again ;  and,  shortly 
before  the  renewal  of  hostilities,  he  had  decided  to  propose  for 
the  hand  of  Charlotte  Catherine  de  la  Tremoille,  only  daughter 
of  Louis  III.,  Due  de  Thouars,  Prince  de  Tarente  and  de 
Talmont,  and  Jeanne  de  Montmorency. 

Charlotte  de  la  Tremoille's  father,  who,  by  the  way,  had 
been  a  fanatical  Catholic  and  a  determined  opponent  of  Conde  in 
Poitou,  of  which  province  he  was  lieutenant-general,  had  died 
some  years  before,  since  which  the  girl  had  lived  with  her 
mother  at  the  Chateau  of  Thouars,  in  Anjou.  She  was  now 
seventeen,  very  pretty,  very  intelligent,  and  of  a  highly 
romantic  disposition,  for  the  Duchesse  de  Thouars,  who 
appears  to  have  had  little  affection  for  her  daughter,  had  left 
her  very  much  to  her  own  devices,  and  she  was  accustomed  to 
spend  a  good  deal  of  her  time  in  the  perusal  of  the  "  Amadis  "  and 
other  fashionable  works  of  imagination. 

Conde  despatched  one  of  his  officers  to  the  Duchesse  de 
Thouars  to  make  the  first  overtures  on  his  behalf.  They  were 
favourably  received,  and  the  duchess  hastened  to  send  her 
daughter  to  the  Chateau  of  Taillebourg,  a  fortress  of  some 
importance  on  the  banks  of  the  Charente,  whither  she  intended 
to  follow  her,  so  that  his  Highness  might  have  an  opportunity 
of  paying  his  addresses  to  the  young  lady,  and  she  of  discussing 
with  him  the  financial  side  of  the  affair.  The  alliance  of  the 
first  Prince  of  the  Blood,  one  of  the  leaders  of  the  Huguenots, 
was  very  flattering  to  the  pride  of  the  La  Tremoilles,  who  did 
not  share  the  prejudices  of  the  late  head  of  the  family  ;  indeed, 


120       THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   COND&S 

the  young  Due  de  Thouars,  although  a  Catholic,  had  taken  up 
arms  for  Conde. 

As  for  Charlotte,  to  her  romantic  imagination,  the  prospect 
of  sharing  the  fortunes  of  a  prince  who  had  experienced  enough 
adventures  to  satisfy  the  most  gluttonous  of  knight-errants,  and 
who,  if  he  had  not  yet  achieved  any  very  brilliant  success,  had 
supported  his  reverses  with  a  fortitude  which  had  gained  him 
the  admiration  of  even  his  enemies,  could  not  fail  to  make  a 
powerful  appeal,  and  she  looked  forward  with  impatience  to  the 
conclusion  of  the  negotiations. 

On  learning  of  the  favourable  reception  of  his  overtures, 
Cond£,  who  was  besieging  Brouage,  lost  no  time  in  addressing 
to  the  Duchesse  de  Thouars  a  formal  request  for  her  daughter's 
hand.  The  duchess  informed  Charlotte,  who  wrote  to  the 
prince  the  following  letter  : 


"  Madame,1 

"  I  am  not  able,  it  seems  to  me,  to  thank  you  as  I  should 
wish  for  the  honour  that  it  pleases  you  to  do  me  by  your  letter, 
and  for  the  good-will  which  it  appears  you  entertain  for  me,  which 
oblige  me  to  serve  you  in  such  fashion  that  I  shall  esteem 
myself  very  happy  all  my  life  if  I  am  favoured  by  your  com- 
mands, which  I  shall  execute  with  as  much  fidelity  as  any 
creature  in  the  world.  And,  since  I  know  that  Madame  de  la 
Tremoille,  my  mother,  is  replying  to  what  you  have  been  so  good 
as  to  write  to  her,  I  shall  say  nothing  on  this  subject,  save  that 
mylintention  has  ever  been  to  conform  to  her  will,  and  that  it 
will  remain  so  eternally,  and  to  assure  you  again  Monsr  (sic) 
that  my  little  merit  must  prevent  me  from  believing  what  it 
pleases  you  to  express  for  me.  .  .  I  thank  you  very  humbly  for 
the  honour  which  I  receive  from  your  suit,  although  I  know  that 
I  am  in  no  way  worthy  of  it,  which  places  me  under  a  very  great 
obligation  to  you.  I  shall  leave  to  Madame  de  la  Tremoille,  my 
mother,  to  reply  on  the  subject  of  the  journeys  of  the  bearer  of 
this,  for  all  that  I  have  desired  my  whole  life,  is  to  follow  these 

1  The  young  lady,  of  course,  intended  to  write  "  Monsieur." 


COND£   AND  MLLE.   DE  LA  TR&MOILLE     121 

commands,  in  which  I  shall  never  fail,  and,  in  token  of  this,  I 
shall  kiss  your  hands. 

"Your  very  humble  servant,  etc.,  etc."1 

On  learning  that  Mile,  de  Tremoille  had  arrived  at  Taille- 
bourg,  Conde*  quitted  his  camp  at  Brouage  and  proceeded  thither. 
He  took  with  him  the  greater  part  of  the  Huguenot  cavalry, 
and  we  may  imagine  with  what  a  thrill  of  pleasure  the  romantic 
Charlotte  must  have  beheld  this  valiant  prince  coming  to  woo 
her  accompanied  by  so  splendid  an  array  of  mail-clad  horsemen. 
Nor  was  she  less  pleased  when,  at  the  gateway  of  the  chateau, 
her  suitor  dismissed  his  imposing  escort,  and,  to  show  his  con- 
fidence, entered  with  three  or  four  of  his  officers  only. 

All  smiles  and  blushes  the  young  chatelaine  came  forward 
to  greet  him,  and,  though  Conde  was  usually  very  reserved  with 
women,  Mademoiselle  was  so  pretty  and  so  sympathetic  that 
soon  he  found  himself  discoursing  of  his  wars  and  his  wander- 
ings as  though  he  had  known  her  for  years.  Before  the  evening 
was  over,  Charlotte  had  decided  that  the  hero  of  her  dreams 
had  indeed  materialized ;  while  the  prince  was  completely 
charmed.  "The  two  betrothed,"  writes  a  contemporary 
biographer  of  the  latter,  "  promised  henceforth  to  live  and  die 
together,  provided  that  they  obtained  the  consent  of  Madame 
de  la  Tremoille,  of  which  Mademoiselle  her  daughter  was 
sufficiently  assured ; " 2  and  Conde  might  have  said  with 
Othello : 

"  She  loved  me  for  the  dangers  I  had  passed, 
And  I  lov'd  her  that  she  did  pity  them." 

Mile,  de  la  Tremoille  gave  that  very  night  a  proof  of  her 
devotion  to  her  future  husband.  As  the  garrison  of  Taillebourg 
contained  several  men  who,  she  had  reason  to  suspect,  were  by 
no   means   well-disposed   towards   the  Huguenot  leader,  "  she 

1  Published  by  Edouard  Barthelemy,  "  laPrincesse  de  Conde  :  Charlotte  Catherine 
de  la  Tremoille." 

"  "  Veritable  discours  de  la  naissance  et  de  la  vie  de  Monseigneur  le  prince  de 
Conde'  jusqu'a  present,  a  lui  desdie  par  le  sieur  de  Fiefbrun,"  publie  par  Eugene 
Halphen  (Paris,  1861). 


122       THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   COND&S 

did  not  take  any  repose  all  night,  but  watched  with  extreme 
care  over  his  safety  until  the  morning,  placing  the  sentinels 
herself  and  making  hourly  inquiries  of  the  rounds  if  they  had 
discovered  anything  which  might  trouble  the  repose  of  our 
amorous  prince."  x 

Early  on  the  morrow,  Conde  left  Taillebourg,  but,  before 
his  departure,  he  gave  Mile,  de  la  Tr^moille,  "  two  lines  in  his 
own  handwriting  and  signed  by  him,  containing  the  assurance 
of  his  good  faith  touching  their  future  marriage."  Then,  "  after 
a  thousand  reiterated  promises  that  death  alone  should  be  the 
separation  of  their  union,"  he  took  leave  of  his  betrothed  and 
returned  to  Brouage. 

The  siege  of  this  town  was  progressing  rapidly  ;  Condi's 
forces  closely  invested  it  on  the  land  side,  while  the  little 
Huguenot  fleet  blockaded  the  port ;  a  portion  of  the  outworks 
had  already  been  captured,  and  its  fall  seemed  assured, 
when  the  prince  thoughtlessly  engaged  in  a  most  disastrous 
enterprise. 

It  happened  that  a  Huguenot  captain  named  Rochemorte, 
attached  to  a  small  force  which  Conde  had  sent  across  the 
Loire  to  make  an  incursion  into  Anjou  and  Normandy,  had 
succeeded,  with  a  mere  handful  of  men,  in  taking  by  surprise 
the  citadel  of  Angers.  The  town,  however,  remained  in  the 
hands  of  the  Catholics  ;  the  daring  Rochemorte  and  his  little 
band  were  being  closely  besieged,  and,  unless  reinforcements 
speedily  arrived,  he  would  be  obliged  to  capitulate.  This  news 
caused  great  excitement  in  the  Protestant  camp,  and  the  prince, 
instead  of  contenting  himself  by  the  despatch  of  a  force  sufficient 
to  enable  Rochemorte  to  hold  the  captured  citadel,  was  per- 
suaded by  his  flatterers  to  go  in  person  and  attempt  the  capture 
of  the  town.  So  brilliant  a  success,  they  assured  him,  would 
entirely  eclipse  the  military  reputation  of  the  King  of  Navarre, 
change  the  whole  course  of  events,  and  strike  such  consternation 
into  the  enemy  that  very  soon  he  might  be  able  to  carry  the 
war  to  the  very  gates  of  Paris. 

It  was  a  most  rash  undertaking,  for  not  only  was  Angers  a 

1  Fiefbrun. 


CONDE  AND   MLLE.    DE    LA  TRJ&MOILLE    123 

strongly-fortified  town,  but  the  neighbourhood  was  the  point  of 
concentration  for  the.  Catholic  armies  destined  to  operate  in 
the  South,  and  was  swarming  with  the  enemy.  However,  his 
jealousy  of  his  cousin,  and  his  anxiety  to  distinguish  himself 
in  the  eyes  of  his  lady-love,  rendered  him  deaf  to  the  voice 
of  reason  ;  and,  after  wasting  a  good  deal  of  precious  time  in 
preparations  for  his  expedition,  he  set  off  for  Angers,  at  the 
head  of  some  2000  horse,  three-fourths  of  whom  were  mounted 
arquebusiers. 

On  the  way,  he  had  an  interview  with  the  Duchesse  de 
Thouars,  who  was  journeying  to  Taillebourg  to  join  her  daughter. 
Henri  III.,  it  appears,  had  lately  brought  pressure  to  bear  upon 
the  duchess  to  persuade  her  to  break  off  the  negotiations  for 
the  marriage,  and,  as  the  latter  was  beginning  to  feel  seriously 
uneasy  as  to  the  future  of  her  prospective  son-in-law,  she  received 
him  very  coldly  and  endeavoured  to  evade  giving  the  con- 
sent which  he  demanded.  Perceiving  how  the  land  lay,  Conde 
refrained  from  pressing  the  matter ;  and,  after  overwhelming 
her  with  protestations  of  friendship,  took  his  departure,  and 
despatched  in  all  haste  a  courier  to  Taillebourg,  with  the 
following  message,  written  on  a  leaf  of  his  tablets  : 

"  I  have  found  Madame,  your  mother,  whether  from  fear  or 
otherwise,  very  much  opposed  to  my  happiness.  I  hope  to 
conquer  her  severity  by  my  perseverance  and  my  conduct, 
swearing  that  you  alone  possess  my  heart,  and  that  neither 
her  prejudice  nor  any  accident  shall  be  able  to  prevent  me 
from  remaining  until  death  your  unchanging  serviteur." x 

On  21  October,  the  prince  arrived  beneath  the  walls  of 
Angers.  He  came  too  late,  for,  two  days  before,  Rochemorte 
had  been  killed,  and  the  citadel  had  capitulated.  His  wisest 
course  would  have  been  to  retreat  at  once,  for,  although  he 
had  received  reinforcements  after  crossing  the  Loire,  his  army 
did  not  exceed  3000  men,  and  hostile  columns  were  already 
gathering  in  his  rear.      However,  he  determined  to  endeavour 

1  Edouard  de  Barthelemy,  "  la  Princesse  de  Conde  :  Charlotte  Catherine  de  la 
Tremoille,  d'apres  leslettres  inedites  conservees  dansles  archives  de  Thouars  "  (Paris, 
1872). 


124       THE  LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   COND&S 

to  carry  the  town  by  storm,  and  made  two  assaults,  both  of 
which  were  repulsed  with  considerable  loss.  Then,  very  reluc- 
tantly, he  gave  the  order  to  retire ;  but  there  was  some  delay 
in  carrying  it  out,  and  scarcely  had  his  vanguard  crossed  the 
Loire,  than  the  enemy's  cavalry  appeared  on  both  banks  of 
the  river.  For  a  moment,  he  thought  of  endeavouring  to  make 
his  way  along  the  right  bank  of  the  Loire  to  the  Huguenot 
stronghold  of  Sancerre,  but,  learning  that  the  Catholics  were 
in  force  in  that  direction,  he  abandoned  it,  and  decided  that 
the  only  course  to  adopt  was  for  his  followers  to  disperse  and 
endeavour  to  creep  through  the  meshes  of  the  net  which  was 
closing  round  them.  He  himself,  with  a  few  officers,  turned 
northwards,  and  succeeded  in  reaching  Saint-Malo,  where  he 
embarked  for  Guernsey. 

In  that  little  island  the  unfortunate  prince  remained  for 
more  than  two  months.  He  was  almost  in  despair,  for  he  well 
knew  that  his  folly,  which  had  deprived  the  Huguenot  forces  of 
the  West  of  their  chief,  many  of  their  principal  officers,  and  the 
greater  part  of  their  cavalry,  must  have  ruined  their  operations 
in  that  part  of  the  country,  and  compelled  them  to  remain 
wholly  on  the  defensive.  Moreover,  he  saw  no  immediate 
prospect  of  being  able  to  return  to  France,  for,  though  he  had 
applied  for  assistance  to  Elizabeth,  that  princess  was  unwilling 
at  this  juncture  to  offend  the  French  Court,  and  he  got  nothing 
from  her  but  expressions  of  sympathy.  One  day,  however, 
in  January,  1586,  he  perceived  two  ships-of-war  flying  the 
Rochellois  ensign,  approaching  the  island.  They  cast  anchor ; 
an  officer  landed,  handed  the  delighted  prince  a  letter  from 
Mile,  de  la  Tr^moille,  and  informed  him  that  they  had  been  sent 
to  convey  him  to  La  Rochelle. 

But  let  us  see  how  Mile,  de  la  Tremoille  had  been  faring 
during  her  lover's  enforced  absence  from  France. 


CHAPTER   IX 

Loyalty  of  Mile,  de  Tremoille  to  Conde" — She  prevents  her  mother,  the 
Duchesse  de  Thouars,  from  surrendering  the  Chateau  of  Taillebourg  to  a 
Catholic  force — And  defends  it  gallantly  until  she  is  relieved — She  equips 
two  ships-of-war  to  bring  Conde  from  Guernsey — Reunion  of  the  lovers — 
Their  marriage — Condd  takes  the  field  again — Financial  embarrassments  of 
the  new  menage — Battle  of  Coutras  :  encounter  between  Conde  and  Saint- 
Luc — Ill-health  of  the  prince — He  returns  to  Saint-Jean-d'Angely — He  is 
suddenly  taken  ill,  and  dies  in  two  days— Violent  grief  of  his  wife — Suspicions 
of  the  doctors — An  autopsy  is  performed,  and  the  prince  is  declared  to  have 
been  poisoned — Letter  of  the  King  of  Navarre  to  the  Comtesse  de  Gramont 
— Flight  of  the  princess's  page,  Belcastel,  and  her  head  valet-de-chambre, 
Corbais — Arrest  of  her  intendant,  Brilland — The  King  of  Navarre  arrives  at 
Saint-Jean-d'Angely,  and  orders  the  Princesse  de  Conde"  to  be  placed  under 
arrest — Terrible  situation  of  the  princess. 

A  FTER  the  disastrous  expedition  to  Angers  and  the 
/  \  flight  of  Conde,  the  Duchesse  de  Thouars  resolved  to 
jL  jL  side  definitely  with  the  Catholic  party,  and  to  do 
everything  in  her  power  to  prevent  the  marriage  of  which  she 
had  at  first  so  warmly  approved.  She  had  now  joined  Charlotte 
at  Taillebourg,  "  where  mother  and  daughter  did  not  get  on  too 
well  together,"  l  for,  as  is  generally  the  case  with  young  ladies 
of  a  romantic  turn  of  mind,  obstacles  only  served  to  fire 
Charlotte's  imagination,  and  the  more  opposed  did  the  duchess 
become  to  the  marriage,  the  more  firmly  did  the  girl  resolve  to 
remain  true  to  her  lover. 

At  length,  matters  reached  a  climax.  At  the  outbreak  of 
hostilities,  the  young  Due  de  Thouars,  who,  as  we  have 
mentioned,  had  joined  Conde's  army,  had  installed  a  Huguenot 
garrison  in  the  chateau.  This  garrison  the  duchess  resolved  to 
get  rid  of,  and  to  replace  it  by  a  Catholic  one  ;  and,  one  fine 

1  De  Thou. 
125 


126       THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   COND&S 

day,  four  companies  of  soldiers  marched  into  the  town,  under 
the  command  of  a  certain  M.  de  Beaumont,  who  was  entrusted 
with  a  letter  for  the  Duchesse  de  Thouars  from  the  Marechal  de 
Matignon,  general-in-chief  of  the  royal  forces  in  the  West,  in 
which  he  called  upon  her,  in  the  King's  name,  to  surrender  the 
chateau,  promising  to  restore  it  at  the  conclusion  of  the  war. 
The  duchess  was  joyfully  preparing  to  obey,  when  her  daughter 
intervened  and  informed  her,  very  respectfully,  but  very  firmly, 
that  she  should  refuse  to  consent  to  the  surrender,  and  that 
"  she  intended  to  keep  inviolable  the  pledge  which  she  had 
given  Mgr.  le  Prince  de  Condc  to  preserve  the  chateau  for  him 
until  her  death." 1 

Madame  de  Thouars  expostulated,  coaxed,  threatened  ;  all 
to  no  purpose.  Charlotte  was  immovable  as  the  rock  upon 
which  the  chateau  stood,  and  eventually  the  mortified  lady 
ordered  her  coach  and  set  out  for  Thouars,  abandoning  her 
rebellious  daughter  to  the  dangers  of  a  siege. 

The  Chateau  of  Taillebourg  was  an  old  fortress  of  the 
thirteenth  century,2  situated  on  a  steep  rock,  which  rendered  it 
perfectly  safe  from  attack  on  three  sides.  On  the  one  on  which 
it  was  accessible,  Charlotte  ordered  two  culverins  to  be  placed, 
so  as  completely  to  command  the  approach,  perceiving  which, 
Beaumont,  who  does  not  appear  to  have  had  any  artillery  with 
him,  prudently  refrained  from  any  attempt  to  take  the  chateau 
by  storm,  and  contented  himself  by  very  closely  investing  it. 
Aware  that  it  was  not  provisioned  for  a  siege,  he  felt  confident 
that  want  of  provisions  must  soon  oblige  the  garrison  to 
capitulate. 

The  days  went  slowly  by.  Every  morning  Beaumont  for- 
mally summoned  the  defenders  to  surrender,  only  to  receive 
a  scornful  defiance.  But,  in  the  meantime,  famine  was 
beginning  to  stare  them  in  the  face,  and  Charlotte  recognized 

1  Ficfbrun. 

2  It  had  had  an  eventfuL  history  during  the  Hundred  Years'  War,  when  it  was 
more  than  once  taken  and  re-taken.  In  1562,  a  daring  Huguenot  adventurer  named 
Romegoux  escaladed  it,  by  means  of  poniards  fixed  in  the  interstices  of  the  walls, 
and  for  some  years  used  it  as  a  base  for  his  operations  against  the  Catholics  of  the 
surrounding  country. 


A  GALLANT  DEFENCE  127 

that,  unless  help  arrived,  it  would  be  impossible  to  hold  out 
much  longer.  Just,  however,  when  her  situation  seemed  almost 
desperate,  she  learned  that  a  body  of  Huguenot  cavalry  under 
the  Sieur  de  la  Boullaye,  which  had  succeeded  in  escaping 
from  the  Angers  fiasco,  was  in  the  neighbourhood  ;  and  she  at 
once  determined  to  make  an  attempt  to  communicate  with  it. 
This,  at  first  sight,  seemed  a  hopeless  undertaking,  for  the  place, 
as  we  have  said,  had  been  very  closely  invested ;  but  she 
perceived  that  at  the  rear  of  the  chateau,  where  the  rock  was  a 
sheer  precipice,  Beaumont  had  placed  only  a  very  few  men, 
deeming  it  impossible  for  any  one  to  descend  on  that  side. 
Accordingly,  when  darkness  fell,  she  caused  one  of  her  servants 
to  be  lowered  by  a  rope  down  the  face  of  the  cliff;  and  the  man, 
unperceived  by  the  enemy,  succeeded  in  making  his  way  to 
La  Boullaye's  camp. 

The  besiegers,  to  guard  against  any  attempt  to  relieve  the 
chateau,  had  taken  the  precaution  to  fortify  a  large  house 
which  commanded  the  entrance  to  the  town  of  Taillebourg. 
But,  as  soon  as  morning  dawned,  Charlotte  "  said  good-day  to 
the  enemy  with  her  culverins,"  and,  turning  them  upon  this 
house,  kept  up  so  persistent  and  well-directed  a  fire,  that  it  was 
soon  almost  in  ruins  ;  and  when  the  Huguenots  arrived,  they 
had  no  difficulty  in  making  their  way  into  the  town. 

Fighting  continued  all  day,  with  no  decisive  result ;  but, 
during  the  night,  the  Catholics,  who  had  lost  some  sixty  men 
and  whose  commander  had  been  taken  prisoner,  evacuated  the 
town  and  retreated  behind  the  Charente.  La  Boullaye  did  not 
pursue  them  ;  but,  after  placing  a  strong  garrison  in  the  chateau, 
escorted  its  brave  defender  to  La  Rochelle,  where  she  promptly 
caused  two  ships  to  be  fitted  out,  at  her  own  expense,  and 
despatched  to  Guernsey,  to  convey  her  lover  and  his  fellow- 
exiles  back  to  France. 

Within  an  hour  or  two  of  the  arrival  of  Charlotte's  ships, 
Condc  was  on  his  way  to  La  Rochelle,  where  he  landed  a  few 
days  later.  "  I  was  there,"  writes  Fiefbrun,  "  and  had  the  honour 
of  accompanying  this  princess  (Mile,  de  la  Tremoille)  to  the 
port,  where  she  received  his  Excellency  with  so  many  expressions 


128       THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   COND&S 

of  joy,  that  never  was  seen  anything  lin  the  world  to  surpass 
in  mutual  affection  their  caresses  and  welcomes,  followed  by 
public  rejoicings  on  the  part  of  the  nobility  and  the  people 
which  it  would  be  impossible  to  describe."  1 

The  prince  and  his  lady-love  looked  forward  with  impatience 
to  their  marriage,  to  which,  however,  the  Duchesse  de  Thouars 
continued  to  show  herself  extremely  hostile.  At  length,  how- 
ever, she  was  persuaded  to  give  a  grudging  consent,  though  she 
absolutely  refused  to  grace  the  ceremony  with  her  presence.  It 
took  place  very  quietly  at  the  Chateau  of  Taillebourg,  on  16 
March,  1586.  A  little  while  before,  Charlotte  had  become  a 
Protestant,  her  example  being  followed  by  her  brother,  the 
Due  de  Thouars. 

Almost  immediately  after  his  marriage,  Conde  took  the  field 
again.  He  was  burning  to  distinguish  himself  and  efface  the 
memory  of  the  disaster  of  the  previous  year,  which  had  furnished 
the  King  of  Navarre  and  his  little  Court  of  Nerac  with  material 
for  many  biting  jests  at  his  expense.2  Glory,  however,  con- 
tinued to  evade  his  pursuit,  and  his  solitary  success  was  gained  in 
a  cavalry  skirmish  before  Saintes,  which,  however,  cost  him  so 
dear  that  he  is  said  to  have  been  "more  afflicted  by  his  losses 
than  elated  by  his  victory."  3 

In  August,  an  armistice  was  concluded,  and  the  remainder  of 
the  year  was  spent  in  negotiations,  which  led  to  nothing.  They 
enabled  Conde,  however,  to  spend  a  few  weeks  with  his  bride  at 
Saint-Jean-d'Angely,  where,  as  most  of  the  prince's  property 
had  been  sequestrated  by  the  Crown,  while  it  was  not  until 
nearly  two  years  after  the  marriage  that  the  Duchesse  de 
Thouars  condescended  to  pay  her  daughter's  dowry,  they  were 
obliged  to  content  themselves  with  a  very  modest  establishment. 
Indeed,  to  judge  from  the  following  letter  from  the  princess  to 
Longuespee,  her  agent  at  Taillebourg,  there  must  have  been 
times  when  they  found  themselves  greatly  embarrassed  for  even 
comparatively  small  sums  of  money  : 

1  "  Veritable  discoursde  la  naissance  et  de  la  vie  de  Mgr.  le  prince  de  Condi?." 

2  So  incensed  was  the  poor  prince   at  these  pleasantries  that  when  his  cousin 
summoned  him  to  attend  a  Protestant  conference  at  Bergerac,  he  declined  to  obey. 

3  De  Thou. 


FINANCIAL   STRAITS   OF  THE   CONDfiS     129 

"  Longuespee,  my  knowledge  of  the  good-will  which  you 
have  long  shown  in  our  service  has  caused  me  to  write  you,  to 
beg  you  to  do  me  the  favour  of  handing  to  the  bearer  of  this 
the  sum  of  one  hundred  ecus,  on  account  of  larger  sums  which 
are  due  to  her  for  bread  that  she  has  supplied  while  my  husband 
and  I  have  been  here.  And,  if  just  now  you  have  not  the  sum 
mentioned,  I  beg  you  to  make  arrangements  to  obtain  it,  so 
that  I  may  satisfy  her,  assuring  you  that  the  favour  which  you 
will  be  doing  me  will  be  very  agreeable  to  me,  and  hoping  to 
remember  it  on  the  first  occasion  which  presents  itself  as  will- 
ingly as  I  shall  remain  your  good  mistress, 

"  X.  DE  LA  TREMOILLE  " 

"  At  Saint-Jean-d'Angely,  this  21  September  1586. 

"  I  beg  you  again  not  to  refuse  me." 1 

On  30  April,  1587,  the  Princesse  de  Conde  gave  birth  to  "  a 
daughter  worthy  of  such  a  mother,"  who  received  the  name  of 
£leonore,  in  memory  of  the  prince's  mother,  and  became  in  1606 
the  wife  of  Philip  William  of  Nassau,  Prince  of  Orange. 

Early  in  the  new  year  hostilities  were  resumed,  and  Conde 
gained  several  successes  in  Poitou  and  Saintonge.  In  October, 
the  King  of  Navarre  and  Conde  marched  from  La  Rochelle  to 
the  Loire  to  meet  the  latter's  younger  brothers,  the  Marquis  de 
Conti  and  the  Comte  de  Soissons,  who,  although  Catholics,  had 
been  persuaded  to  cast  in  their  lot  with  their  relatives.  Then 
they  turned  southwards,  with  the  intention  of  concentrating  all 
their  troops  in  Gascony,  and  afterwards  marching  towards 
Berry,  to  effect  their  junction  with  a  German  force  which  was 
advancing  to  their  assistance.2  They  were  closely  followed  by 
a  royal  army  under  the  Due  de  Joyeuse,  while  another  Catholic 
force  under  Matignon  advanced  against  them  from  Guienne. 
To  prevent  the  junction  of  Joyeuse  and  Matignon,  the  King  of 
Navarre  decided  to  give  battle  to  the  former  in  the  plain  before 

1  Edouard  de  Barthelemy,  "  La  Princesse  de  Conde :  Charlotte  Catherine  de  La 
Tr^moille. 

2  The  Marquis  de  Conti  had  gone  to  Strasbourg  to  take  the  nominal  command 
of  the  Germans. 

K 


130       THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS  OF  THE   COND&S 

Coutras,  on  the  borders  of  Saintonge  and  Perigord.  The 
Catholics  had  a  considerable  advantage  in  point  of  numbers  ; 
but  Henri's  army  was  almost  entirely  composed  of  veterans, 
and  he  was  confident  of  success.  As  his  officers  were  hastening 
to  their  posts,  he  stopped  his  cousins  and  exclaimed  :  "  Gentle- 
men, I  have  only  one  thing  to  say  to  you :  remember  that  you 
are  of  the  House  of  Bourbon.  Vive  Dien  !  I  will  show  you  that 
I  am  its  head  ! "  "  And  we  will  show  you  that  we  are  good 
cadets,"  replied  Conde. 

Henri's  confidence  was  justified  ;  in  less  than  an  hour  the 
Catholic  army  was  completely  routed,  Joyeuse  killed,  and  all 
the  artillery,  standards  and  baggage  taken.  It  was  the  first 
victory  in  the  open  field  which  the  Protestants  had  gained 
in  twenty-five  years  of  civil  war,  and  stamped  the  King  of 
Navarre  as  a  bold  and  successful  general. 

Conde*  greatly  distinguished  himself,  and,  though  his  armour 
was  hacked  almost  to  pieces,  he  escaped  unwounded  from  the 
battle  itself.  But  in  the  pursuit  he  was  not  so  fortunate.  One 
of  the  bravest  captains  of  the  royal  army,  d'Espinay  Saint- Luc, 
who  had  gallantly  defended  Brouage  against  the  Huguenots  in 
the  preceding  year,  finding  that  his  horse  was  too  exhausted  to 
carry  him  out  of  the  field,  resolved  to  do  something  to  distinguish 
himself  ere  he  surrendered.  Having  descried  Conde  almost 
isolated  in  the  middle  of  the  plain,  he  laid  his  lance  in  rest  and 
charged  him  so  furiously  that  both  horse  and  man  went  down. 
Saint-Luc  immediately  dismounted,  extricated  the  prince  from 
his  fallen  steed,  and  tendered  him  his  gauntlet,  saying  : 
"  Monseigneur,  Saint-Luc  surrenders  to  you  ;  do  not  refuse 
him." 

Although  the  lance  had  not  penetrated  the  prince's  armour, 
which  happened  to  be  intact  at  the  spot  where  he  had  been  struck, 
he  was  badly  bruised  and  shaken  and  scarcely  able  to  stand. 
However,  he  embraced  and  pardoned  the  prisoner  who  had 
adopted  this  highly  disagreeable  mode  of  surrender,  and  was  then 
carried  to  the  King  of  Navarre's  quarters. 

The  victory  of  Coutras  although  so  complete,  had  no  im- 
portant results.     D'Aubigne  accuses  the  King  of  Navarre  of 


ILL-HEALTH   OF   COND&  131 

having  sacrificed  his  duty  to  love — to  his  eagerness  to  lay  at 
the  feet  of  his  mistress,  the  Comtesse  de  Gramont  {la  telle  Cori- 
sande),  the  standards  which  he  had  captured.  But  his  inaction 
was  more  probably  due  to  the  fact  that  it  was  impossible  for  him 
to  keep  his  army  together,  so  eager  were  the  soldiers  to  return  to 
their  homes  with  their  booty.  Anyway,  he  made  no  attempt  to 
join  the  Germans,  who  were  defeated  by  the  Due  de  Guise  at 
Vimory,  near  Orleans,  and  again  at  Anneau,  and  driven  across 
the  frontier,  with  terrible  loss. 

Conde,  who  had  in  vain  endeavoured  to  persuade  his  cousin 
to  continue  the  operations,  decided  to  lead  the  contingents  of 
Poitou  and  Saintonge  against  Saumur,  but  so  many  of  his  men 
deserted  that  he  was  compelled  to  abandon  this  enterprise.  He 
was,  besides,  far  too  unwell  for  further  service,  for,  since  his 
encounter  with  Saint-Luc,  he  had  been  suffering  from  severe 
pains  in  the  side  ;  and  on  reaching  Saintes,  these  were  com- 
plicated by  an  attack  of  fever.  The  princess  rejoined  him 
there,1  and  early  in  January,  1588  he  was  sufficiently  recovered 
to  return  to  Saint-Jean-d'Angely.  Shortly  afterwards,  the  pains 
in  the  side  returned  ;  but,  passionately  devoted  as  he  was  to  all 
martial  exercises,  he  no  sooner  felt  better  than  he  was  in  the 
saddle  again ;  and  on  Thursday,  3  March,  spent  some  hours  in 
tilting  at  the  ring,  on  which  occasion  he  rode  a  restive  horse, 
which  reared  repeatedly.2 

About  an  hour  after  supper  that  evening,  the  prince  was 
seized  with  violent  pains  in  the  stomach,  followed  by  repeated 
vomiting.  He  was  attended  by  his  chief  surgeon,  Nicolas  Poget, 
and  a  physician  named  Bonaventure  de  Media's,  "who  aided 
the  movements  of  nature.  The  malady  notwithstanding  con- 
tinued all  night  .  .  .  and  so  great  was  his  difficulty  in  breathing 
that  he  was  unable  to  stay  in  his  bed,  and  was  compelled  to  sit 
in  a  chair. 

"  Whereupon,  on  the  morrow,  Maitres  Louis  Bontemps 
and   Jean  Pallet,  also   doctors   of  medicine,  were   called  into 

1  The  Due  d'Aumale  ("  Histoire  des  Princes  de  Conde")  says  that  the  princess 
remained  at  SaLnt-Jean-d'Angely,  but  this  is  incorrect. 

2  Due  d'Aumale,  "  Histoire  des  Princes  de  Conde." 


132       THE  LOVE-AFFAIRS  OF  THE  COND&S 

consultation ;  and  they  all  of  them  succoured  his  Excellency 
with  all  diligence  and  fidelity,  by  all  the  means  that  they  judged 
suitable,  according  to  the  symptoms  of  the  malady.  But  on 
the  Saturday,  the  fifth  day  of  the  month,  and  the  second  of  the 
malady,  at  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  all  things  took  a  turn 
for  the  worse,  and  an  entire  suffocation  of  all  the  faculties 
supervened,  in  which  he  rendered  his  soul  to  God  half  an  hour 
afterwards."  * 

"  I  was  one  of  those,"  writes  Fiefbrun,  "  who  were  chosen  to 
report  this  piteous  calamity  to  Madame  his  wife,  whom  I  found 
descending  the  steps  of  her  hotel  to  come  and  visit  him  in  his 
little  lodging,  where  she  expected  to  find  him  alive,  since  she 
had  as  yet  no  idea  that  he  was  so  near  his  last  day.  As  soon  as 
she  caught  sight  of  me,  she  suspected  her  misfortune,  and  pressing 
me  to  tell  her  in  a  few  words,  she  fell  down  in  a  swoon,  and  was 
carried  immediately  to  her  bed,  where  she  broke  forth  into  the 
most  terrible  lamentations,  accompanied  by  so  many  sobs  and 
sighs  that  they  could  not  be  imagined  save  by  those  who  saw  and 
heard  them.  They  were  so  violent  that  I  am  often  astonished 
that  they  did  not  occasion  a  miscarriage."  2 

In  view  of  what  we  are  about  to  relate,  Fiefbrun's  account 
of  the  'manner  in  which  the  Princesse  de  Conde"  received  the 
news  of  her  husband's  death  is  of  extreme  importance. 

The  rapidity  of  the  malady,  and  the  fact  that  decomposition 
set  in  within  two  hours  after  death,  "  gave  cause  to  the  doctors 
and  surgeons  to  suspect  that  there  had  been  some  extraordinary 
and  violent  cause."  By  order  of  the  prince's  council,  two  other 
surgeons  were  called  in,  and  an  autopsy  performed.  This  served 
to  confirm  their  suspicions.  "  We  have  found,"  runs  their  report, 
"all  the  stomach,  particularly  towards  the  right  part,  black, 
burned,  gangreened,  and  ulcerated,  which,  in  our  opinion,  can 
only  have  been  caused  by  a  quantity  of  burning,  ulcerating,  and 
caustic  poison,  which  poison  has  left  evident  traces  of  its  passage 

1  "  Rapport  des  medecins  ct  chirurgiens  sur  la  mort  de  Monseigneur  le  Prince  de 
Conde,"  published  by  Edouard  Barthelemy,  "  La  Princesse  de  Conde  :  Charlotte 
Catherine  de  la  Tremoille." 

•  She  was  three  months  pregnant. 


SUDDEN  DEATH  OF  CONDE       133 

in  the  esophagus.  The  liver,  in  the  part  adjoining  the  aforesaid 
channel,  was  altered  and  burned,  and  all  the  rest  of  the  organ 
livid,  as  were  also  the  lungs.  There  was  not  a  single  part  of  his 
Excellency's  body  which  was  not  very  sound  and  very  healthy, 
if  the  violent  poison  had  not  destroyed  and  corrupted  the  parts 
mentioned."  l 

Meanwhile,  orders  had  been  given  that  all  the  late  prince's 
servants  were  to  be  placed  under  arrest,  and  a  courier  had  been 
despatched  to  the  King  of  Navarre,  who  was  at  Nerac.  Under 
date  10  March,  1588,  we  find  Henri  writing  to  the  Comtesse  de 
Gramont  as  follows : 

"  To  finish  describing  myself,  there  has  happened  to  me  one 
of  the  greatest  calamities  that  I  could  possibly  fear,  which  is 
the  sudden  death  of  Monsieur  le  Prince.  I  mourn  for  him  as  he 
ought  to  have  been  to  me,  not  as  he  was.  I  am  assured  of  being 
the  only  target  at  which  the  perfidies  of  the  Mass  are  aimed. 
They  have  poisoned  him,  the  traitors  ! 

"On  Thursday,  this  poor  prince,  after  tilting  at  the  ring, 
supped,  feeling  well.  At  midnight,  he  was  seized  with  a  very 
violent  vomiting,  which  lasted  till  morning.  All  Friday  he  kept 
his  bed.  In  the  evening,  he  supped,  and  having  slept  well,  he 
rose  on  Saturday  morning,  dined  at  table,  and  then  played  at 
chess.  He  rose  from  his  chair,  and  walked  up  and  down  his 
chamber,  chatting  with  one  and  the  other.  All  at  once,  he 
said  :  '  Give  me  my  chair  ;  I  feel  a  great  weakness.'  Scarcely 
was  he  seated  when  he  lost  the  power  of  speech,  and  imme- 
diately expired.    The  effects  of  poison  at  once  became  apparent. 

"  It  is  incredible  the  consternation  which  this  has  caused  in 
that  part  of  the  country.  I  am  starting  at  daybreak  to  travel 
thither  with  all  speed.  I  see  myself  on  the  way  to  encounter 
much  danger.  Pray  to  God  for  me  earnestly.  If  I  escape  it,  it 
must  be  because  it  is  He  who  had  protected  me.  Up  to  the 
grave,  to  which  I  am  perhaps  nearer  than  I  think,  I  shall 
remain  your  faithful  slave.  Good-night,  my  soul ;  I  kiss  your 
hands  a  thousand  times."  2 

1  "  Rapport  des  medecins  ct  chirurgiens  sur  la  mort  de  Monseigneur  le  Prince  de 
Conde." 

2  "  Lettres  missives  de  Henri  IV." 


134       THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE  COND&S 

Next  morning,  the  King  of  Navarre  set  out  for  Saint-Jean- 
d'Angely,  "  to  console  my  cousin,  Madame  la  Princesse,  and  to 
prevent  our  enemies  from  profiting  by  our  losses  and  misfortunes 
and  by  my  absence." l  On  the  second  day  of  his  journey, 
however,  he  was  met  by  a  courier,  with  intelligence  which  con- 
vinced him  that  the  bereaved  princess  was  an  object  of  something 
very  different  from  sympathy. 

"  There  arrived  yesterday,"  he  writes  to  his  Corisande,  "  the 
one  at  midday,  the  other  in  the  evening,  two  couriers.  The  first 
reported  that  Belcastel,  the  page  of  Madame  la  Princesse?  and 
her  first  valet  de  c/iambre3  had  fled,  immediately  after  seeing 
their  master  dead.  They  found  two  horses  worth  two  hundred 
6cus  at  an  inn  in  the  faubourg,  where  they  had  been  kept  for  a 
fortnight,  and  each  had  a  wallet  full  of  money.  On  being 
questioned,  the  innkeeper  stated  that  it  was  a  person  named 
Brilland  who  had  given  him  the  horses,  and  that  he  came  every  day 
to  tell  him  to  treat  them  well ;  that  if  he  gave  four  measures  of 
oats  to  the  other  horses,  he  was  to  give  them  eight,  and  that  he 
would  pay  double.  This  Brilland  is  a  man  whom  Madame  la 
Princesse  had  placed  in  her  Household  and  given  the  charge  of 
everything.  He  was  immediately  arrested.  He  confesses  to 
have  given  one  thousand  ecus  to  the  page  and  to  have  purchased 
the  horses,  by  his  mistress's  order,  to  go  to  Italy. 

"The  second  courier  confirms  all  this,  and  says  further  that 
Brilland  was  compelled  to  write  a  letter  to  the  valet  de  c/iambre, 
who  was  known  to  be  at  Poitiers,  in  which  he  requested  him 
to  come  two  hundred  paces  from  the  gate,  as  he  wished  to  speak 
to  him.4  Immediately,  the  ambuscade  which  was  there  seized 
him,  and  he  was  brought  to  Saint-Jean.  He  has  not  yet  been 
interrogated,  but  he  said  to  those  who  were  bringing  him  :  f  Ah  ! 
what  a  wicked  woman  Madame  [the  Princesse  de  Conde]  is ! 
Let  them  arrest  her  treasurer  ;  I  will  tell  everything  frankly.' 
This  was  done.     That  is  all  that  is  known  up  to  the  present. 

1  The  King  of  Navarre  to  M.  de  Scorbiac,  II  March,  15S8. 
"  He  was  a  lad  of  about  sixteen,  a  Pe'rigourdin. 
3  His  name  was  Antoine  Corbais,  and  he  was  a  native  of  La  Fere. 
*  They  could  not,  of  course,  arrest  the  man  within  the  town,  since  it  was  in  the 
hands  of  the  Catholics. 


CHARI.OTTK   CATHKRINK    UK    I. A    TRKMOII.I.K,    PRIXCKSSK    l'l.    ("ON'Dl 

KNOM    AN    KN'.KAVIM,    I'.Y    MICEK,  AKTKK    THK    I'AINTINi;    ]:Y    l.K    MONMI   " 


THE  PRINCESS   IS  ARRESTED  135 

Remember  what  I  have  told  you  at  other  times.  I  am  seldom 
deceived  in  my  judgments.  A  bad  woman  is  a  dangerous  animal 
{tine  dangereuse  beste).  All  these  poisoners  are  Papists.  It  was 
from  them  that  the  lady  received  her  instructions.  I  have  dis- 
covered an  assassin  for  myself.  God  will  protect  me,  and  I  will 
tell  you  more  about  it  soon.  .  .  .  My  soul,  I  am  very  well  in 
body,  but  very  afflicted  in  mind.  Love  me,  and  let  me  see 
that  you  do  ;  that  will  be  a  great  consolation  for  me." l 

The  King  of  Navarre  did  not  carry  out  his  original  intention 
of  proceeding  straight  to  Saint-Jean-d'Angely,  for,  on  reaching 
Pons,  he  turned  aside  to  La  Rochelle,  and  it  was  not  until  the 
evening  of  29  March  that  he  reached  the  scene  of  the  tragedy. 
The  probable  reason  for  this  delay  was  his  wish  to  avoid  com- 
mitting himself  until  further  light  had  been  thrown  upon  the 
affair. 

The  princess,  although,  of  course,  under  close  supervision, 
was  still  nominally  at  liberty,  for  Fiefbrun,  to  whom,  in  his 
capacity  of  bailiff  of  Saint-Jean-d'Angely,  Henri  had  entrusted 
the  conduct  of  the  inquiry,  was  a  devoted  servant  of  the  Condes 
and  was  naturally  very  reluctant  to  take  any  definite  steps 
against  her.  But,  on  his  arrival,  he  found  public  opinion  in  the 
town  so  hostile  to  the  lady  that  he  felt  obliged  to  order  her 
arrest. 

Personal  considerations  would  appear  to  have  been  no 
stranger  to  this  decision,  and  to  the  vigour  with  which  he  subse- 
quently pushed  on  proceedings  against  the  princess.  The  very 
strained  relations  which  had  existed  for  some  time  past  between 
him  and  the  late  prince  were  common  knowledge,  and  his  enemies 
had  not  hesitated  to  circulate  the  report  that  he  was  privy  to  the 
death  of  his  cousin.  Theodore  de  Beze  had  just  written,  warning 
him  of  this  atrocious  calumny,  and  urging  him  to  take  immediate 
steps  to  refute  it : 

"  On  this  point  I  am  constrained  to  add,  knowing  what  might 
be  the  consequence  of  sinister  counsels  and  your  own  clemency 
and  good-nature,  that  your  enemies  have  even  dared,  with 
that  imprudence  and  wickedness  which  is  the  result  of  despair, 

1  "  Lettres  missives  de  Henri  IV." 


136       THE  LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE  COND&S 

to  spread  the  report  that  this  detestable  crime  was  instigated 
by  you.  You  neither  can  nor  ought  to  hesitate  about  this 
action,  without  making  an  irreparable  breach  in  your  reputation  ; 
but,  on  the  contrary,  you  ought  to  pursue  the  matter  to  judgment 
and  execution,  so  as  to  stop  the  mouths  of  these  detestable 
calumniators  in  the  sight  of  God  and  man."  1 

After  ordering  the  arrest  of  the  Princesse  de  Conde\  Henri 
despatched  one  of  his  gentlemen,  the  Sieur  de  Veau  Limery, 
to  the  Court,  with  a  letter  for  "  the  Queen,  mother  of  the  King, 
my  lord,"  in  which  he  informed  her  that  the  page  Belcastel,  "  the 
principal  instrument  of  the  crime,"  had  taken  refuge  in  Poitiers, 
and  begged  her  to  give  orders  that  search  should  be  made  for 
him,  and  that,  when  apprehended,  he  should  be  conducted  to 
Saint-Jean-d'Angely,  to  be  confronted  with  his  accomplices. 
Instructions  to  that  effect  were  sent  to  Poitiers ;  but  nothing 
was  ever  heard  of  the  fugitive  page,  who  seemed  to  have 
vanished  off  the  face  of  the  earth. 

The  position  of  the  Princesse  de  Conde"  was  a  terrible  one. 
It  was  not  only  at  Saint-Jean-d'Angely  that  public  opinion  had 
pronounced  against  her.  The  more  zealous  Huguenots,  furious 
at  the  supposed  crime  which  had  deprived  them  of  the  prince 
who  had  shared  all  their  passions  and  prejudices,  were  loud  in 
their  demands  that  she  should  be  brought  to  justice  ;  while  the 
Catholics  were  very  hostile  to  the  princess,  on  account  of  her 
abjuration  and  her  conduct  in  recent  events,  in  which  she  had 
rendered  such  good  service  to  the  Protestant  cause.  To  her 
relatives  she  looked  in  vain  for  help  or  sympathy.  The  Duchesse 
de  Thouars,  who,  since  the  affair  of  Taillebourg,  had  been  on 
the  worst  possible  terms  with  her  daughter,  never  seems  to  have 
even  thought  of  coming  to  Saint-Jean-d'Angely  to  inquire  if  she 
were  innocent  or  guilty ;  and  her  absence  still  further  prejudiced 
the  princess's  case  in  the  eyes  of  the  public.  The  young  Due 
de  Thouars,  who,  one  would  naturally  suppose,  would  have  been 
eager  to  champion  his  sister,  does  not  appear  to  have  moved  in  the 
matter  at  all.  As  for  her  husband's  relatives,  the  Prince  de  Conti 
and  the  Comte  de  Soissons  seem  to  have  at  once  made  up  their 

1  Published  by  the  Due  d'Aumale,  "  Histoire  des  Princes  de  Conde." 


A  CHARITABLE  MOTHER-IN-LAW  137 

minds  that  she  was  guilty  and  did  all  in  their  power  to  hasten 
the  prosecution ;  while  the  attitude  of  the  Dowager-Princesse  de 
Conde  may  be  gauged  from  the  following  remarkable  letter : 

"Great  as  was  the  pleasure  it  gave  me  to  address  you  as 
Madame  la  Princesse,  I  shall  have  reason  to  regret  this  name  so 
long  as  you  are  not  justified  of  the  atrocious  accusation  which 
will  cause  you  to  lose  honour  and  life  together,  if  your  innocence 
is  not  proved.  That  is  what  I  desire  intensely,  since  I  am  unable 
to  believe  that  the  heart  of  a  woman  so  well-born  and  so  well 
brought  up  could  cherish  such  wickedness  against  the  prince 
who  had  done  you  so  much  honour  in  wooing  and  espousing 
you.  This  loss  is  so  great  for  all  the  family  that  the  peculiar 
honour  which  I  received  from  his  father  invites  me  to  deplore  it 
for  the  rest  of  my  life.  I  have  been  among  the  first  to  demand 
justice  of  our  King  (Henri  III.),  who  is  neither  able  nor  willing 
to  refuse  it.  Their  Majesties  have  declined  to  receive  your 
letters,  and  the  cardinals l  to  reply  to  them.  I  have  also  spoken 
of  your  story  to  the  Queen,  mother  of  the  King,  who  replied 
that  she  is  so  much  the  friend  of  honour  and  virtue,  and  is  so 
overwhelmed  with  horror  at  the  deed  of  which  you  are  accused, 
that  she  does  not  intend  to  intervene.  ...  It  is,  therefore,  your 
duty  to  endeavour  to  secure  the  arrest  of  your  page,  to  whom, 
it  is  said,  you  caused  a  great  deal  of  money  to  be  given  by  your 
treasurer,  and  to  whom  one  of  your  valets  de  chambre  has  con- 
fessed to  have  given  the  poison.  This  evidence  makes  matters 
very  serious  for  you. 

"  It  is  further  said  that  you  love  your  page  so  passionately 
that  he  used  to  occupy  your  husband's  place,  with  so  many  other 
dreadful  things  that  the  Court  is  horrified  ;  and  there  is  no  con- 
versation now  except  at  the  expense  of  your  reputation,  which, 
I  think,  is  very  unfortunate  for  you. 

"  Those  who  have  counselled  you  (if  such  is  the  case)  have 

done  you  more  harm  than  if  they  had  given  you  the  same 

poison.     Who  would  ever  wish  to  see  you,  holding  you  to  be 

without  honour  and  without  heart?     Believe   that  God,   who 

1  Presumably,  the  Cardinals  de  Bourbon  and  de  Guise. 


138       THE  LOVE-AFFAIRS  OF  THE  COND&S 

threatens  poisoners  with  having  no  share  in  the  Kingdom  of 
Heaven,  will  permit  the  truth  to  be  known  and  justice  to  be 
executed.  I  have  very  humbly  entreated  the  King,  on  your 
behalf,  that  the  page  should  be  arrested.  His  Majesty  desires 
it  and  has  written  about  it ;  but  it  is  not  believed  that  you  are 
anxious  for  it.  I  pray  God  that  the  contrary  may  be  the 
case ;  but,  however  that  may  be,  you  are  at  present  the  fable 
and  the  malediction  of  France,  and,  as  I  believe,  of  all  the 
world,  even  to  the  barbarians,  if  they  hear  of  it.  But  can  it 
really  be  possible  that  you  have  deprived  of  life  a  prince  who 
has  so  much  honoured  and  loved  you?  If  it  is,  you  have 
no  worse  enemy  than  yourself,  and  have  consented  to  the 
damnation  of  your  soul.  Time,  which  is  the  father  of  truth, 
will  speedily  enlighten  us  on  the  matter  of  your  conduct,  which, 
I  trust,  is  altogether  contrary  to  the  belief  which  everywhere 
prevails. 

"  When  I  knew  that  you  were  living  as  an  honourable 
princess,  and  were  respecting  such  a  husband,  a  member  of  so 
great  a  family,  I  desired  to  do  you  service,  and  I  esteemed 
myself  happy.  But  now  that  I  see  you  thus  accused,  if  your 
justification  does  not  appease  this  widespread  rumour  of  so 
iniquitous  a  deed,  I  have  received  too  much  honour  from  the 
late  Monseigneur  my  husband  to  be  willing  that  any  one 
should  surpass  me  in  the  desire  to  be  the  most  cruel  enemy  that 
you  have  ever  had,  although  I  shall  nevertheless  weep  for  your 
disgrace.  .  .  .  And  if  you  have  been  instigated  to  this  crime, 
as  is  reported,  hasten  to  denounce  those  who  have  given  you 
this  pernicious  counsel,  for  the  sake  of  your  life  and  honour  ; 
and  I  shall  implore  God  to  punish  the  guilty  and  protect  the 
innocent. 

"  From  Paris  this  IX.  April  1588. 

"She  who   was   formerly   your   mother-in-law   to   do  you 
service. 

"  Francoise  d'Orleans  " * 

1  "  Bibliotheque  Nationale,"  Brienne  Collection,  published  by  Eugene  Halphen 
in  his  introduction  to  Fiefbrun. 


CHAPTER   X 

The  King  of  Navarre  appoints  a  special  commission  for  the  trial  of 
Brilland — Brilland  is  put  to  the  question — His  confessions  under  torture 
implicate  the  Princesse  de  Condd,  but  on  the  following  day  he  disavows  them 
— He  is  found  guilty  and  condemned  to  be  dismembered  by  horses — The 
princess  denies  the  competency  of  the  court  and  appeals  to  the  Parlement 
of  Paris — But  the  King  of  Navarre  and  the  commissioners  ignore  the  decrees 
of  that  body — The  commission  directs  that  the  princess  shall  be  brought  to 
trial — She  gives  birth  to  a  son — The  prosecution  is  dropped,  but  the  princess 
remains  in  captivity — The  President  de  Thou  interests  himself  in  her  case — 
Means  by  which  he  obtains  from  Henri  IV.  the  recognition  of  her  son's 
rights,  and,  with  them,  the  acknowledgment  of  the  princess's  innocence. 


A 


FTER  ordering  the  arrest  of  the  Princesse  de  Conde\ 
the  King  of  Navarre  appointed  a  special  commission, 
composed  of  twelve  judges,  for  the  trial  of  Brilland  ; 
while,  as  the  accused  had  protested  against  his  examination 
being  conducted  by  Fiefbrun,  who  appears  to  have  been  a 
personal  enemy,  Henri  replaced  him  by  Valette,  Grand  Pro- 
vost of  Navarre,  the  more  willingly  since  he  was  aware  that 
Fiefbrun  was  a  devoted  partisan  of  the  princess. 

The  commissioners  decided  that  Brilland  should  be  put  to 
the  question.  "  On  entering  the  torture-chamber,  he  protested, 
in  the  first  place,  that  everything  that  he  might  say  would  be 
owing  to  the  violence  of  the  pain,  and  that  he  knew  nothing 
about  the  poison,  and  that  he  was  innocent.  Nevertheless, 
when  the  torture  was  applied,  he  accused  Madame  in  this 
sense,  that  she  and  he  had  plotted  the  poisoning  of  the  late 
prince  from  the  time  that  he  [Conde]  was  aware  of  her 
behaviour,  and  that,  on  leaving  this  town,  his  Excellency  had 
recommended  him  to  keep  watch  over  her  actions,  and  to  take 
care  of  her,  declaring  that,  after  she  was  brought  to  bed,  he 
should   chastise   her  for   her   misconduct ;    and  that  when  he 

139 


140       THE  LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE  CONDfeS 

[Brilland]  informed  her  of  this,  the  said  project  was  resolved 
upon  .  .  .  ;  that  the  said  poison  had  been  sent  to  the  .  .  .  ; 
that  it  had  come  from  M.  d'Epernon.  He  further  said  that 
La  Doussiniere,  maitre  dhotel  of  his  aforesaid  lord,  had 
administered  the  aforesaid  poison  in  a  chicken  stuffed  with 
eggs." 1 

After  this  so-called  confession  had  been  extracted  from  him, 
the  wretched  man  was  released  from  the  rack  and  taken  back 
to  prison.  There,  on  the  following  day,  he  was  visited  by  the 
commissioners,  who  ordered  his  confession  to  be  read  over  to 
him.  "  He  disavowed  it ;  protested  that  what  he  had  said  was 
false ;  declared  that  what  he  had  done  was  to  escape  the 
violence  of  the  pain  :  exonerated  those  whom  he  had  accused  ; 
and  maintained  his  innocence  and  that  he  was  ignorant  of  the 
poison.  At  the  same  time,  he  confirmed  the  truth  of  all  the 
aforesaid  confessions  that  he  had  made  and  signed  in  the 
course  of  the  trial,  with  the  exception  of  that  made  under 
torture  .  .  .  and  declared  that  he  believed  Madame  la  Princesse 
and  those  whom  he  had  accused  to  be  innocent,  and  that  he 
knew  nothing  about  the  poison." 

Brilland  was  found  guilty  and  condemned  to  the  most 
barbarous  of  all  forms  of  punishment — to  be  dismembered  by 
horses.     Against  this  sentence  he  appealed. 

In  the  meanwhile,  the  Princesse  de  Conde  had  been 
formally  charged  with  complicity  in  the  murder  of  her 
husband  and  summoned  before  the  commission.  She  refused 
to  appear,  denying  the  competency  of  the  tribunal  and  claim- 
ing the  privileges  of  the  peerage.  The  judges  overruled  the 
princess's  objections,  whereupon  she  petitioned  Henri  III.  that 
her  case  should  be  tried  by  the  Grande  Chambre  of  the 
Parlement  of  Paris.  His  Majesty  having  returned  a  favourable 
answer,  she  appealed  to  the  Parlement,  and  obtained  from  that 
body  a  degree  calling  the  affair  before  it,  prohibiting  "all 
judges  and  others  whom  it  may  concern  from  taking  any 
further   proceedings,"    and    ordering    that   all    the    documents 

1  Memoir   published  by  Edouard  de   Barthelemy,    "  la   Princesse  de    Conde : 
Charlotte  Catherine  de  la  Tremoille." 


BARBAROUS   EXECUTION   OF  BRILLAND     141 

relating  to  the  case  should  be  immediately  forwarded  to  the 
registrar  of  the  court,  on  the  ground  that  the  wives  of  the 
Princes  of  the  Blood  were  no  more  able  than  their  husbands  to 
be  tried  save  by  the  Parlement  of  Paris.  At  the  same  time, 
it  appointed  two  celebrated  advocates,  Francois  de  Montholon 
and  Simon  Marion,  to  act  as  counsel  for  the  princess. 

The  commissioners  at  Saint-Jean-d'Angely  appear  to  have 
paid  no  attention  to  these  injunctions.  The  princess  again 
appealed  to  the  Parlement,  which  issued  a  second  decree, 
confirming  the  first  and  ordering  the  commissioners  to  appear 
themselves  before  it,  to  answer  for  their  disobedience.  The 
King  of  Navarre,  who  had  no  intention  of  surrendering  the 
conduct  of  an  affair  of  such  great  consequence  to  himself  to 
the  royal  judges,  from  whom  he  had  everything  to  fear,  replied 
by  issuing  a  counter-decree,  which  rejected  the  pretensions  of 
the  princess,  maintained  the  competency  of  the  tribunal  he 
had  appointed,  and  ordered  the  commissioners  to  prosecute 
the  affair,  "in  conformity  with  the  procedure  which  they  had 
followed  hitherto." 

In  consequence,  the  sentence  passed  upon  Brilland  was 
confirmed,  and  on  11  July,  1588,  the  condemned  man  suffered 
his  terrible  fate.  "  He  gave  on  this  occasion,"  writes  de  Thou, 
"  several  proofs  of  madness,  although  he  confessed  that  he  was 
guilty  of  several  other  crimes,  and  that  he  recognized  the 
justice  of  the  sentence  that  the  commissioners  chosen  to  try 
him  had  pronounced.  He  began,  however,  to  blaspheme  in  a 
scandalous  fashion,  so  that  those  who  assisted  at  the  execution 
had  great  difficulty  in  making  him  return  to  his  right  senses, 
which  caused  people  to  think  that  his  mind  was  not  very 
sound,  and  that,  in  consequence,  much  reliance  ought  not  to  be 
placed  on  his  evidence." 

On  the  same  day,  the  fugitive  page,  Belcastel,  was  executed 
in  effigy.  As  for  Corbais,  the  valet  de  chambre,  who  had  fled 
with  the  page  and  had  been  trapped  so  neatly  outside  the  gates 
of  Poitiers,  we  are  not  told  what  was  decided  upon  in  regard 
to  him.     He  is  not  mentioned  again  in  the  proceedings. 

After  the   execution  of   Brilland,  the   proceedings   against 


142       THE  LOVE-AFFAIRS  OF  THE  COND&S 

the  Princesse  de  Conde  were  continued.  The  Prince  de  Conde 
and  the  Comte  de  Soissons  demanded  to  be  received  as  parties 
to  the  prosecution,  and  their  request  was  granted  by  the 
commissioners.  The  princess  once  more  appealed  to  the 
Parlement  of  Paris,  which  issued  a  third  decree,  forbidding 
Conti  and  Soissons  to  pursue  the  affair  except  before  the 
Parlement,  and  ordering  the  arrest  of  the  commissioners  and 
the  seizure  and  sequestration  of  their  property. 

This  decree,  like  the  two  which  had  preceded  it,  was  treated 
with  contempt,  since  the  Parlement  was,  of  course,  powerless 
to  enforce  it,  and  on  19  July  the  commissioners  directed  that 
the  princess  should  be  brought  to  trial,  but  that,  on  account 
of  her  pregnancy,  the  trial  should  not  begin  until  forty  days 
after  her  confinement.  In  the  meanwhile,  she  was  very 
strictly  guarded  in  the  house  of  the  Sieur  de  Saint-Mesme, 
governor  of  Saint-Jean-d'Angely,  in  which  she  had  been  shut 
up  ever  since  her  arrest,  and  only  permitted  to  see  a  very  few 
persons.  "  During  the  six  months  that  she  was  enceinte," 
writes  Fiefbrun,  "  she  was  retained  in  her  lodging,  subjected 
to  a  thousand  slanders,  and  interrogated  frequently  by  the 
chosen  and  incompetent  judges,  not  as  a  great  princess,  but 
as  a  simple  demoiselle,  without  any  regard  to  her  rank  or 
her  privileges.  I  leave  all  those  who  have  heard  it  spoken 
about  to  imagine  how  many  anguishes,  how  much  despair, 
assailed  her  soul  during  that  long  time,  in  which  she  was 
not  permitted  to  speak  or  to  confer  with  any  one  save  two  or 
three  of  her  intimates,  without  any  other  counsel  or  assistance." 

On  1  September,  1588,  six  months  after  the  death  of  her 
husband,  the  captive  princess  gave  birth  to  a  son,  Henri  de 
Bourbon,  second  of  that  name,  and  third  Prince  de  Conde\ 
Fiefbrun  gravely  assures  us  that,  at  the  moment  of  the  boy's 
birth,  "  an  extraordinary  light  was  observed  in  the  heavens,  and 
that,  on  the  day  of  his  baptism,  the  sky  being  serene  and  cloud- 
less, a  clap  of  thunder  was  heard,  which  several  persons  who 
understood  meteors  regarded  as  of  good  augury." 

Less  importance,  however,  was  attached  to  these  happy 
prognostications  than  to   a   circumstance   which   appeared   to 


BIRTH   OF  HENRI   II.   PRINCE   DE  CONDfi     143 

remove  the  suspicion  on  which  the  charge  against  the  princess 
had  been  principally  based,  namely,  that  she  was  with  child  by 
the  page  Belcastel,  and  had  poisoned  her  husband  to  escape  his 
just  vengeance.  This  was  the  striking  resemblance  which  the 
infant  prince  bore  to  the  late  Prince  de  Conde,  which  was 
admitted  even  by  some  who  had  until  then  been  inclined  to 
believe  in  the  guilt  of  the  princess.  "  To-day,  at  noon  precisely," 
wrote  the  governor  of  Saint-Jean-d'Angely  to  the  Due  de 
Thouars,  "  Madame  la  Princesse,  your  sister,  has  been  delivered 
of  the  most  beautiful  prince  imaginable,  and  with  more 
resemblance  (so  far  as  one  can  judge  at  his  age)  to  the  late 
Monseigneur,  his  father,  than  one  can  describe.  For  which  I 
praise  God,  as  do  an  infinite  number  of  honourable  people,  your 
servants." 

And  Gilbert,  the  mayor  of  the  town,  wrote  that  "  he  had 
seen  to-day  the  dead  father  born  again  in  a  child  so  like  him  in 
every  respect  that  there  was  not  a  man  living  but  was  of 
opinion  that  never  had  son  so  closely  resembled  his  father." 

Desmoustiers,  the  pastor  of  the  Protestant  Church  of  Saint- 
Jean-d'Angely,  and  Delacroix,  the  late  prince's  chaplain,  bore 
similar  testimony,  the  former  declaring  that  the  boy  resembled 
his  father  "  en  tout  et  partoiU "  ;  while  the  latter  concluded  his 
letter  by  observing :  "  Thus  does  Our  Lord  (just  Judge)  cause 
the  truth  concerning  the  poisoning  to  be  known." l 

Whether  it  was  that  the  birth  of  a  son  had  given  the  Princesse 
de  Conde  a  certain  prestige  with  the  Protestants,  disposed  to 
see  in  this  child  a  hope  for  the  future,  or  that  the  want  of  proofs 
rendered  the  prosecution  difficult  to  continue,  or  that  the  King 
of  Navarre's  attention  was  occupied  by  weightier  matters,  the 
investigation  was  not  resumed,  and  the  members  of  the 
commission  which  had  been  appointed  to  conduct  it  dispersed. 
The  princess,  nevertheless,  remained  in  captivity,  although  she 
now  enjoyed  a  certain  amount  of  liberty,  since  she  went  twice  a 
week  to  see  her  little  son,  who  had  been  put  out  to  nurse  at 
Mazeroy,   near   Saint-Jean-d'Angely ;    and   a   path  across   the 

1  lidouard  de  Barthelemy,  "  Charlotte  Catherine  de  la  Tremoille,  Princesse  de 

Conde." 


144       THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS  OF  THE   COND&S 

fields  between  Beaufief  and  the  road  leading  to  that  town, 
which  she  generally  followed,  bears  to  this  day  the  name  of 
"  le  chemin  de  la  princesses l  She  was  unable  to  obtain  either 
the  trial  before  the  Parlement  of  Paris  which  she  had  repeatedly 
demanded  or  her  liberty,  and  she  appealed  in  vain  to  her 
relatives,  to  the  neighbouring  nobility,  and  to  every  person  of 
importance  whom  chance  happened  to  bring  to  Saint-Jean- 
d'Angely,  to  use  their  influence  on  her  behalf.  But  neither  her 
relatives  nor  the  different  nobles  to  whom  she  addressed  her- 
self seemed  disposed  to  take  any  active  steps  in  her  favour,  and 
it  was  left  to  a  magistrate,  the  President  de  Thou,  to  be  the 
first  to  interest  himself  in  the  forsaken  woman. 

In  the  summer  of  1589,  de  Thou,  charged  with  a  mission 
from  Henri  IV.,  passed  through  Saint-Jean-d'Angely,  and  the 
princess,  since  she  was  unable  either  to  receive  or  to  visit  him 
herself,  had  the  happy  idea  of  sending  to  him  her  daughter 
£leonore  and  the  little  Henri,  with  a  request  that  he  would 
accord  them  his  protection.  The  kind  heart  of  the  worthy  pre- 
sident was  touched,  and  he  promised  to  do  everything  in  his 
power  on  behalf  of  the  princess  and  her  children.  Several  years 
passed,  however,  before  circumstances  permitted  him  to  render 
any  material  assistance  to  his  illustrious  clients. 

Henri  IV.,  as  the  King  of  Navarre  had  now  become,  did 
not  appear  to  cast  any  doubt  upon  the  legitimacy  of  the 
little  prince,  since  he  consented  to  stand  godfather  to  him,  and 
conferred  upon  him  indirectly  the  government  of  Guienne, 
which  he  himself  had  held  before  his  accession  to  the  throne, 
But  this  informal  acknowledgment  carried  little  weight,  and, 
so  long  as  the  Princesse  de  Conde  was  not  exonerated  from  the 
terrible  charge  which  was  still  hanging  over  her,  the  boy's 
position  remained  doubtful  and  precarious.  Moreover,  when, 
after  the  conversion  of  Henri  IV.  and  the  submission  of  Paris, 
tranquillity  was  to  some  degree  restored,  and  the  new  King's 
authority  better  established,  the  late  prince's  brothers  wished 
to  recommence  the  proceedings  against  their  sister-in-law,  and 
urged  his  Majesty  to  declare  her  child  incapable  of  succeeding 

1  E.  Halphen,  "  Introduction  to  Fiefbrun." 


THE  YOUNG   PRINCE'S  RIGHTS  RECOGNIZED    145 

to  the  throne.  For  some  time  their  animosity  frustrated  all  the 
efforts  of  de  Thou  on  behalf  of  the  princess  and  her  son,  but  at 
length  he  succeeded  in  outmanoeuvring  them. 

In  January,  1595,  the  King  signed  a  new  decree  extending 
the  provisions  of  an  article  of  the  Edict  of  Peace  of  1577,  which 
admitted  Protestants  to  public  office.  The  Parlement,  however, 
refused  to  register  it,  except  on  the  condition  that  no  member 
of  the  Reformed  Faith  should  be  eligible  for  the  post  of 
governor  or  lieutenant-general  of  a  province,  and  persisted  in 
its  refusal,  notwithstanding  all  the  efforts  of  the  King  to  induce 
it  to  give  way.  The  attitude  of  the  Parlement  placed  Henri  IV. 
in  a  very  embarrassing  position,  and  de  Thou,  adroitly  seizing 
his  opportunity,  offered  to  secure  the  passing  of  the  Edict, 
provided  that  the  King  would  guarantee  that  the  young  Prince 
de  Conde,  the  heir-presumptive  to  the  throne,  should  be  brought 
up  in  the  Catholic  Faith.  His  Majesty,  at  first  received  this 
proposition  very  ungraciously,  but,  seeing  no  other  way  out  of 
the  impasse^  he  eventually  accepted  it,  and  directed  the  attorney- 
general  to  announce  to  the  Parlement  that  the  Prince  de  Conde 
"  would  forthwith  be  taken  out  of  the  hands  of  persons  of  the 
Protestant  religion  to  be  brought  up  in  that  of  Rome." 

This  announcement  not  only  secured  the  registration  of  the 
Edict,  but  brought  about  the  liberation  of  the  Princesse  de 
Conde,  since  to  recognize  the  rights  of  the  son  was  to  acknow- 
ledge the  innocence  of  the  mother ;  and  now  that  the  favour  of 
the  King  appeared  to  be  gained,  the  prisoner  of  Saint-Jean- 
d'Angely  had  no  lack  of  supporters.  A  few  weeks  later  (June, 
1595),  Henri,  Due  de  Montmorency,1  after  having  taken  at 
Dijon  his  oath  as  Constable  of  France,  presented  to  Henri  IV. 
a   petition   signed  by  Diane   de  France,2  widow   of  Francois, 

1  Until  the  death  of  his  eldest  brother  Francois,  Marechal  Due  de  Montmorency, 
in  1577,  Henri  de  Montmorency  had  borne  the  title  of  Baron  de  Damville,  which  was 
now  assumed  by  the  third  of  the  Montmorency  brothers,  until  then  known  as  the 
Seigneur  de  Meru. 

2  Natural  daughter  of  Henri  II.  by  Filippa  le  Due,  a  Piedmontese  girl  of  humble 
origin,  and  not  of  Diane  de  Poitiers,  as  several  historians  have  wrongly  stated.     She 
married,  first,  Orazio  Farnese,  Duke  of  Castro,  and,  en  sccondes  7ioces,   Francois  de 
Montmorency,  elder  brother  of  the  Constable. 
L 


146       THE  LOVE-AFFAIRS  OF  THE  COND&S 

Marechal  de  Montmorency,  Charles  de  Valois,  Comte 
d'Auvergne,1  the  Due  de  Thouars,  the  Due  de  Bouillon,  the 
Baron  de  Montmorency-Damville,  and  other  relatives  of  the 
princess,  praying  him  to  direct  that  the  accusations  brought 
against  her  should  be  adjudicated  upon.  The  King,  by  letters- 
patent,  ordered  the  affair  to  be  submitted  to  the  Parlement  of 
Paris,  and  that  the  minutes  of  the  proceedings  at  Saint-Jean- 
d'Angely  should  be  sent  to  the  registrar  of  that  body.  At  the 
same  time,  he  ordered  the  princess  to  be  set  at  liberty,  on 
condition  that  the  signatories  to  the  petition  should  make 
themselves  responsible  for  her  appearance  when  called  upon. 

In  November,  1595,  the  princess  and  her  son  quitted  Saint- 
Jean-d'Angely,  in  charge  of  Jean  de  Vivonne,  Marquis  de 
Pisani,  whom  the  King  had  appointed  the  boy's  gouverneur' 
In  the  first  days  of  December,  they  arrived  at  the  Chateau  of 
Saint-Germain,  which  had  been  provisionally  assigned  the  little 
prince  as  a  residence,  and  where,  by  Henri  IV.'s  desire,  the 
Parlement  of  France  came  to  salute  him  as  first  Prince  of  the 
Blood  and  heir-presumptive  to  the  throne. 

In  the  following  May,  the  trial  of  the  princess — if  such  a 
name  could  be  applied  to  an  affair,  the  issue  of  which  was  a 
foregone  conclusion — came  on  for  hearing.  The  Prince  de 
Conti  and  the  Comte  de  Soissons  had  protested  against 
everything  that  might  be  decided  as  illegal,  on  the  ground  that 
the  judgment  of  the  case  belonged  to  the  King  alone,  "  holding 
his  court  garnished  with  peers,  legitimately  assembled."  The 
Parlement  summoned  the  two  princes  to  appear  before  it,  and 
show  cause  why  their  sister-in-law  should  not  be  pronounced 
innocent  of  the  death  of  her  husband.  They  refused,  where- 
upon the  court  declared  all  the  proceedings  in  Saintonge  null 
and  void  and  of  no  effect,  "  as  contrary  to  the  authority  of  the 
King,  and  to  the  decrees  of  his  Court  of  Parlement,  and  useful 
in  no  way  whatsoever  to  the  furtherance  of  justice."  Finally,  on 
24  July,  it  issued  a  decree  declaring  the   princess   "  pure  and 

1  Afterwards  Due  d'Angouleme.  He  was  a  natural  son  of  Charles  IX.  by  Marie 
Touche,  and  had  married  Charlotte  de  Montmorency,  daughter  of  the  Connetable 
Henri  de  Montmorency. 


INNOCENT  OR  GUILTY?  147 

innocent,"  which,  in  accordance  with  letters-patent  issued  by 
the  King,  was  registered  by  all  the  provincial  Parlements. 

Thus  terminated  the  mysterious  affair  of  Charlotte  Catherine 
de  la  Tremoille,  Princesse  de  Conde. 

But,  as  an  eighteenth-century  historian  very  rightly  points 
out,  a  case  gained  before  the  Parlement  was  not  necessarily  a 
victory  at  the  tribunal  of  public  opinion  ;  while  over  and  over 
again  that  body  had  quashed  the  decrees  of  the  lesser  courts 
only  to  have  its  own  verdict  reversed  by  the  judgment  of 
history.  The  proceedings  at  Saint-Jean-d'Angely  were  declared 
null  and  of  no  effect,  but  the  affair  was  not  sent  back  for  trial 
to  the  place  where  the  supposed  crime  had  been  committed, 
nor  submitted  to  a  new  examination.  Thus,  the  Princesse  de 
Conde*,  though  pronounced  innocent  by  the  Law,  was  not 
exonerated  by  a  large  section  of  the  public ;  nor  has  time 
altogether  effaced  the  suspicions  which  remained  in  so  many 
minds.1 

Since  all  the  documents  connected  with  the  investigation  at 
Saint-Jean-d'Angely  were,  by  order  of  the  Parlement,  solemnly 
burned  by  the  registrar  of  the  Court,  in  the  presence  of  the 
First  President,  Achille  de  Harlay,  and  the  rapporteur,  fidouard 
Mole,  until  some  fresh  evidence  shall  be  forthcoming,  historians 
must  renounce  the  hope  of  discovering  the  truth  of  this  cause 
ctfebre,  and  content  themselves  with  more  or  less  hazardous 
conjectures. 

That  the  prince  died  from  the  effects  of  poison  was 
undoubtedly  the  firm  belief  of  practically  all  his  contem- 
poraries. One  writer  of  the  time  alone,  so  far  as  we  are  aware, 
Joseph  Texeira,2  takes  a  different  view.  In  1598,  Texeira 
published  an  historical  treatise,  in  Latin,  dealing  with  the 
principal  events  of  Henri  IV.'s  reign,3  in  the  course  of  which 
he  denied  that  the  Prince  de  Conde  had  been  poisoned,  and 
attributed  his  death  to  the  injuries  he  had  received  at  Coutras, 

1  Desormeaux. 

a  lie  was  a  Portuguese  Dominican  monk,  who  settled  in  France,  and  became 
Almoner  to  Henri  IV.  and  confessor  to  the  Dowager-Princesse  de  Conde. 

3  "Rerum  ah  Henricl  Borbonis  Franciae  protoprincipis  majoribus  gestarum 
Epitome." 


148       THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   COND&S 

from  which,  as  we  have  mentioned,  he  had  suffered  a  great  deal 
of  pain.  Texeira  pretends  that  the  doctors  who  performed  the 
autopsy  were  divided  as  to  the  cause  of  death,  and  that  the 
opinion  of  those  who  held  that  it  was  due  to  natural  causes 
was  adopted,  after  a  solemn  discussion,  by  the  Faculty  of 
Montpellier.  But  Desormeaux,  so  devoted  to  the  Conde 
family,  confesses  that,  despite  his  active  researches,  he  was 
unable  to  find  the  proof  of  the  two  facts  advanced  by  Texeira 
in  the  documents  of  the  time,  whether  published  or  in 
manuscript,  and  if,  after  this  avowal,  he  inclines  to  the  same 
opinion,  it  is  because  he  cannot  bring  himself  to  believe  that 
Texeira,  Almoner  to  the  King  and  Councillor  of  State,  was 
capable  of  a  lie.1 

But,  admitting  that  the  unfortunate  prince  was  poisoned, 
what  evidence  is  there  to  connect  his  wife  with  the  crime  ? 
Nothing  whatever  save  the  confessions  of  Brilland,  made  under 
torture,  and  which  he  subsequently  denied,  and  the  rumour  of 
her  undue  intimacy  with  the  page  Belcastel,  about  which, 
singularly  enough,  nothing  seems  to  have  been  heard  until 
after  her  husband's  death.  On  the  other  hand,  there  are  the 
strongest  possible  reasons  for  believing  her  to  be  entirely 
innocent.  She  was,  undoubtedly,  deeply  in  love  with  her 
husband  at  the  time  of  her  marriage,  and  had  given  him,  as  we 
have  seen,  signal  proofs  of  her  devotion  ;  and  it  is,  indeed, 
difficult  to  believe  that  in  less  than  two  years  her  affection 
could  have  been  transformed  into  a  murderous  hatred. 
Moreover,  she  had  apparently  nothing  to  gain  and  much  to  lose 
by  his  death,  for  in  the  line  of  succession  he  stood  next  to  the 
King  of  Navarre,  a  childless  man,  whose  life  was  spent  in 
the  midst  of  perils.  In  conniving  at  the  murder  of  the  Prince 
de  Conde,  quite  apart  from  the  danger  of  detection  and 
punishment,  she  would  have  deprived  herself  of  the  prospect  of 
becoming  Queen  of  France. 

1  "  Recueil  de  1' Academic  des  inscriptions  et  belles-lettres."    Halphen. 


CHAPTER  XI 

Education  of  Henri  II.  de  Bourbon,  Prince  de  Conde — Appearance  and 
character  of  the  young  prince — He  is  offered  and  accepts  the  hand  of 
Charlotte  de  Montmorency,  unaware  that  Henry  IV.  is  desperately  enamoured 
of  the  lady — Conversation  of  the  King  with  Bassompierre — Marriage  of 
Conde"  and  Mile,  de  Montmorency — Infatuation  of  the  King  for  the  young 
princess — Conde"  refuses  to  accept  the  odious  role  assigned  him,  and  "  plays 
the  devil " — Violent  scenes  between  him  and  the  King — He  removes  with 
his  wife  to  Picardy — Amorous  escapade  of  Henri  IV. — Conde",  summoned  to 
Court  for  the  accouchement  of  the  Queen,  leaves  the  princess  behind  him — 
Indignation  of  Henri  IV. — Conde"  flies  with  his  wife  to  Flanders — Fury  of 
the  King,  who  sends  troops  in  pursuit  of  the  fugitives — Refusal  of  the  Arch- 
dukes to  deliver  them  up — Conde"  goes  to  Cologne,  while  the  princess 
proceeds  to  Brussels. 


H 


ENRI  IV.  charged  himself  with  all  the  expenses  of 
the  little  Prince  de  Conde's  education  ;  the  Cardinal 
de  Gondi,  Bishop  of  Paris,  was  entrusted  with  the 
task  of  instructing  him  in  the  Catholic  faith,  and  on  24  January, 
1596,  the  boy  attended  Mass  for  the  first  time. 

To  assist  the  gouverneur,  the  Marquis  de  Pisani,  in  his 
important  duties,  the  King  decided  to  appoint  a.sous-gouverneur, 
and  selected  for  that  post  Nicolas  d'Aumale,  Sieur  d'Harcourt. 
D'Harcourt  was  a  Protestant,  and  his  appointment  was 
probably  due  to  Henri  IV.'s  desire  to  conciliate  the  Huguenots 
and  to  prove  to  them  that,  though  the  heir  presumptive  to  the 
throne  was  to  be  brought  up  as  a  Catholic,  there  was  no 
intention  of  separating  him  entirely  from  those  of  his  father's 
faith.  For  preceptor,  the  prince  was  given  Nicolas  Lefebvre, 
Counsellor  to  the  Departments  of  Waters  and  Forests,  who  was 
a  devout,  though  a  by  no  means  intolerant,  Catholic,  and  one 
of  the  most  learned  men  of  his  time. 

The  education  of  the  boy  would  have  progressed  smoothly 

149 


150      THE  LOVE-AFFAIRS  OF  THE  COND&S 

enough,  but  for  the  interference  of  the  Dowager-Princesse  de 
Conde,  who  aspired  to  direct  everything  herself,  and  continually 
countermanded  the  orders  of  Pisani,  who  was  obliged  to  appeal 
to  Henri  IV.  to  uphold  his  authority.  He  complained  that  the 
princess  refused  to  admit  that  anything  was  right  that  came 
from  the  King ;  and  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  lady,  who 
was  aware  that  none  but  political  motives  had  induced  Henri 
IV.  to  put  an  end  to  her  imprisonment,  was  but  little  disposed 
to  respect  his  Majesty's  wishes. 

Not  content  with  quarrelling  with  Pisani,  the  princess 
endeavoured  to  create  dissension  between  him  and  d'Harcourt, 
by  insinuating  to  the  latter  that  he  was  distrusted  by  his 
superior,  on  account  of  his  being  a  Huguenot.  Then  she  tried 
to  persuade  the  King  to  allow  Texeira  to  be  associated  with 
d'Harcourt  and  Lefebvre  in  the  education  of  her  son — a 
proposal  which  was  greatly  resented  by  the  sous-gouverneur 
and  the  preceptor. 

The  disputes  to  which  his  mother's  meddlesome  activity  gave 
rise  were  very  unfortunate  for  the  young  prince.  And  Pisani 
declared  that  it  was  "  pitiable  to  see  him  thus  guided,  served, 
and  treated,"  and  expressed  his  fear  "  lest  he  should  be  found 
wanting,  and  that  those  who  had  been  charged  with  his 
education  should  be  blamed  and  despised  for  it."  1 

In  October,  1559,  Pisani  died  suddenly,  at  the  Abbey  of 
Saint-Maur-des-Fosses,2  to  which  he  had  removed  with  his 
charge  to  escape  a  terrible  epidemic — probably  typhus — which 
was  then  ravaging  Paris.  The  choice  of  his  successor  was  not 
an  easy  one,  for  now  that  Queen  Marguerite  had  given  her 
consent  to  the  dissolution  of  her  union  with  the  King,  and 
negotiations  had  been  set  on  foot  for  Henri's  marriage  with 
Marie  de'  Medici,  the  post  was  diminishing  in  importance. 
General  astonishment,  however,  was  expressed  when  it  was 
known  that  the  King  had  conferred  it  upon  the  Comte  de  Belin. 

1  Letter  of  Pisani  to  Villeroy,  5  March,  1598,  cited  by  the  Due  d'Aumale. 

2  The  Abbey  of  Saint-Maur-des-Fosses,  situated  a  little  beyond  the  Bois  de 
Vincennes/hadbeen  secularized  in  1533,  and  afterwards  sold  to  Catherine  de'  Medici, 
from  whose  executors  the  Dowager-Princesse  de  Conde  had  recently  purchased  it. 
It  afterwards  became  one  of  the  favourite  country-seats  of  the  Condes. 


APPEARANCE  AND   CHARACTER  OF  COND&    151 

The  count  was  a  former  Leaguer,  Governor  of  Paris  under  the 
Due  de  Mayenne,  and  had  been  one  of  the  first  of  that  party  to 
attach  himself  to  the  cause  of  Henri  IV.  He  had  since 
testified  great  devotion  to  the  monarch,  but  he  was  but  little 
esteemed  by  the  public,  and  had  lost  any  military  prestige  he 
ever  possessed  by  the  promptitude  with  which  he  had  capitu- 
lated at  Arques,  in  1596.  Some  privileged  courtiers  ventured 
to  remonstrate  with  his  Majesty  on  this  appointment,  to  whom 
he  drily  replied  :  "  When  I  wanted  to  make  a  King  of  my 
nephew,  I  gave  him  Pisani ;  when  I  wanted  to  make  a  subject 
of  him,  I  gave  him  Belin." 

The  new  gouverneur  showed  himself  infinitely  more  com- 
plaisant towards  the  Princesse  de  Conde"  than  had  his  pre- 
decessor ;  indeed,  Tallemant  des  Reaux  declares  that  they 
"  made  belles  galanteries  together,"  though  no  attention  need  be 
paid  to  the  unsupported  statement  of  this  incorrigible  scandal- 
monger. He  was  also  far  more  indulgent  with  his  pupil  than 
Pisani  had  ever  been — a  change  which  is  generally  believed  to 
have  had  a  very  injurious  effect  upon  the  character  of  the  young 
prince,  who  was  one  of  those  lads  who  require  a  strong  hand 
over  them.  Thanks,  however,  to  the  perseverance  of  Lefebvre, 
his  studies  were  not  ipermitted  to  suffer,  and  he  received  an 
education  both  sound  and  varied.  He  became  a  tolerable  Latin 
scholar,  spoke  Italian  fluently,  understood  Spanish,  wrote  his 
own  language  correctly — a  rare  accomplishment  in  those  days — 
and  had  some  knowledge  of  theology  and  mathematics.  In 
appearance,  he  was  rather  below  the  middle  height,  with  a 
slight,  well-knit  figure,  and  "  the  strongly  marked  features  which 
generally  distinguished  the  Bourbons."  x  He  was  passionately 
devoted  to  the  chase  and  an  excellent  horseman ;  nor  does  he 
seem  to  have  lacked  the  courage  of  his  race,  since  in  February, 
1607,  when  the  prince  was  in  his  nineteenth  year,  Henri  IV.  was 
obliged  to  exercise  his  authority  to  prevent  a  duel  to  which  he 
had  challenged  the  Due  de  Nevers. 

With  the  exception  of  this  incident,  his  early  youth  appears 
to  have  been  very  uneventful,    for,  since  France  was  now  at 

1  Cardinal  Bentiviglio,  "Relazioni." 


152       THE  LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   COND&S 

peace,  no  opportunity  occurred  for  his  initiation  into  the  art  of 
war.  The  King  kept  him  constantly  about  his  person,  less 
through  any  affection  for  his  kinsman  than  from  a  desire  to  pro- 
tect him  against  the  influence  of  ambitious  and  scheming  persons 
who  might  seek  to  use  him  for  the  furtherance  of  their  own 
ends.  But  the  young  prince  did  not  possess  the  qualities  which 
would  have  fitted  him  to  shine  in  the  gay  and  licentious  society 
of  the  time,  being  shy  and  awkward,  particularly  in  the  presence 
of  ladies,  while  his  revenues  were  not  at  all  commensurate  with 
his  rank ;  and  after  the  birth  of  sons  to  Henri  IV.  had  deprived 
him  of  all  hope  of  the  throne,  he  seems  to  have  occupied  a  very 
inconspicuous  position  at  Court. 

Conde's  comparative  lack  of  fortune  made  a  wealthy  marriage 
a  necessity,  and  when,  at  the  beginning  of  the  year  1609,  the 
King  announced  his  intention  of  bestowing  upon  him  the  hand 
of  Charlotte  de  Montmorency,  daughter  of  the  Connetable  Henri 
de  Montmorency,1  and  one  of  the  richest  heiresses  in  France, 
he  accepted  the  offer  with  a  gratitude  which  was  not  diminished 
by  the  fact  that  Mile,  de  Montmorency  united  to  the  advantages 
of  wealth  remarkable  personal  attractions. 

There  was,  indeed,  no  more  lovely  girl  at  Court  than  the 
daughter  of  the  Constable.  Cardinal  Bentiviglio,  the  Papal 
Nuncio  at  Brussels,  who  saw  her  towards  the  close  of  the  same 
year,  has  left  us  the  following  description  of  her  : 

"  She  was  then  sixteen  years  old,  and  her  loveliness  was  ad- 
judged by  all  men  to  accord  with  the  fame  thereof.  She  was 
very  fair ;  her  eyes  and  all  her  features  full  of  charm  ;  an 
ingenuous  grace  in  all  her  gestures  and  in  her  manner  of  speak- 
ing. Her  beauty  owed  its  power  to  itself  alone,  since  she  did  not 
bring  to  its  aid  any  of  the  artifices  of  which  women  are  wont  to 
make  use." 2 

It  is  certain,  however,  that  Conde  would  have  received  the 
proposition  in  a  very  different  spirit  if  he  had  been  aware  of  the 
reasons  which  had  prompted  the  King  to  make  it ;  for  it  was 

1  By  his  second  wife,  Louise  de  Budos,  a  woman  of  middling  birth,  but  of  such 
extraordinary  beauty  that  some  persons  attributed  it  to  supernatural  agency. 

2  "  Relazioni." 


HENRI  IV.  AND  CHARLOTTE  DE  MONTMORENCY  153 

not  the  young  prince's  interests,  but  his  own  convenience,  that 
his  Majesty  had  in  mind. 

One  day  in  January,  1609,  it  happened  that  Henri  IV.  was 
passing  through  the  great  gallery  of  the  Louvre,  when  he  came 
upon  a  bevy  of  young  ladies  of  the  Court  practising  for  a  ballet, 
nymphs  of  Diana,  armed  for  the  chase.  Among  them  was  Mile. 
de  Montmorency,  whose  charms,  enhanced  by  the  classical 
costume  she  was  wearing,  made  so  profound  an  impression  upon 
the  susceptible  monarch  that  he  was  quite  unable  to  take  his 
eyes  off  her. 

Shortly  after  this  encounter,  his  Majesty  was  laid  up  with  an 
attack  of  gout.  Several  of  the  ladies  of  the  Court  came  to  visit 
him,  and  among  those  who  were  most  assiduous  in  their  attentions 
was  the  Duchesse  d'Angouleme,  who  was  invariably  accompanied 
by  Mile,  de  Montmorency,  her  niece.  Henri  IV.  was  fifty-five, 
and  his  hair  and  beard,  whitened  by  a  life  of  peril  and  hardship, 
made  him  look  considerably  older.  But  his  heart  was  still 
young,  and  he  was  as  amorous  as  he  had  been  at  twenty. 
From  the  first,  he  took  the  keenest  pleasure  in  Mile,  de  Mont- 
morency's society  ;  soon  he  was  hopelessly  in  love,  although 
for  some  time  he  appears  to  have  deluded  himself  with  the 
belief  that  his  interest  in  the  damsel  was  of  a  paternal  nature 
only. 

The  fair  Charlotte  was  already  bethrothed,  with  the  King's 
approval,  to  Francois  de  Bassompierre,  a  handsome  young 
noble  of  Lorraine,  high  in  favour  with  his  Majesty,  and  one  of 
the  most  redoubtable  lady-killers  of  the  Court.  Henri,  however, 
having  himself  become  a  candidate  for  the  lady's  affections,  had 
no  mind  to  endure  a  rival  so  formidable  as  the  fascinating 
Bassompierre,  and,  accordingly,  decided  that  the  projected 
marriage  must  be  broken  off. 

One  night,  when  Bassompierre  was  on  duty  in  the  King's 
chamber,  endeavouring  to  soothe  his  master's  pain  by  reading 
to  him  M.  d'Urfe's  sentimental  romance  "l'Astree,"  then  at  the 
height  of  its  vogue,  Henriiinformed  him,  after  some  preamble,  that 
he  intended  to  marry  him  to  Mile.  d'Aumale,  and  to  revive  the 
duchy  of  that  name  in  his  favour.     "  You  wish  then,  Sire,  to 


154       THE  LOVE-AFFAIRS  OF  THE  CONDES 

give  me  two  wives ! "  exclaimed  the  astonished  courtier. 
"Baron,"  rejoined  the  King,  "I  wish  to  speak  to  you  as  a 
friend.  I  am  not  only  in  love,  but  distracted  about  Mile,  de 
Montmorency.  If  you  marry  her  and  she  loves  you,  I  shall 
hate  you.  If  she  loves  me,  you  will  hate  me.  It  were  better 
that  the  marriage  were  broken  off,  lest  it  should  mar  the  good 
understanding  between  us,  and  destroy  the  affection  I  entertain 
for  you.  I  have  decided  to  marry  her  to  my  nephew,  the  Prince 
de  Conde,  and  to  keep  her  near  the  person  of  my  wife.  She 
will  be  the  solace  and  support  of  the  old  age  upon  which  I  am 
about  to  enter.  I  shall  give  her  to  my  nephew,  who  is  only 
twenty,  and  prefers  hunting  a  thousand  times  to  ladies'  society ; 
and  I  desire  no  other  favour  from  her  than  her  affection,  without 
pretending  to  anything  further." 

Bassompierre,  who  was  above  all  things  a  courtier,  seeing 
that  the  King  was  determined,  and  that,  unless  he  submitted 
with  a  good  grace,  he  would  lose  both  his  bride  and  the  royal 
favour,  protested  his  willingness  to  obey,  adding  the  hope  that 
"this  new  affection  would  bring  his  Majesty  as  much  joy  as  it 
would  occasion  him  pain,  but  for  his  consideration  for  his 
Majesty."  *  His  chagrin  was,  nevertheless,  intense,  and  when, 
next  morning,  the  young  lady  having  been  acquainted  with 
the  change  that  had  been  made  in  the  disposition  of  her  hand, 
greeted  her  too  facile  lover  with  an  expressive  shrug  of  her 
pretty  shoulders  and  a  glance  of  the  most  withering  disdain,  his 
grief  and  mortification  were  such  that  he  fled  precipitately  to 
his  lodging,  where,  he  assures  us,  he  spent  three  days  without 
food  or  sleep. 

The  betrothal  of  Conde  and  Charlotte  de  Montmorency 
took  place  shortly  afterwards  (2  March,  1609),  in  the  great 
gallery  of  the  Louvre.  The  Constable  gave  his  prospective 
son-in-law  100,000  ecus ;  while  the  King  granted  him  an 
increase  of  his  pension  and  a  present  of  150,000  livres.  The 
bride  received  18,000  livres  from  his  Majesty,  for  the  purchase 
of  jewellery,  as  well  as  a  magnificent  trousseau.  Owing  to 
the  necessity  of  obtaining  the  Papal  dispensation  for  the  union 

1  Marechal  de  Bassompierre,  "  Memoires. " 


CONDfe  MARRIES   MLLE.   DE  MONTMORENCY    155 

of  cousins,1  the  marriage-ceremony  was  postponed  until  16  May, 
when  it  was  celebrated  at  Chantilly,  "  very  inexpensively,  but 
very  gaily." 

This  gaiety  was  not  of  long  duration.  Scarcely  had  the 
young  couple  rejoined  the  Court,  which  was  then  at  Fontainebleau, 
than  the  King  began  to  lay  the  closest  siege  to  the  princess's 
heart  and  strove  by  every  means  in  his  power  to  gain  her 
affection.  The  girl,  flattered  by  the  homage  of  her  Sovereign, 
of  which  she  perhaps  did  not  divine  the  end,  was  far  from  dis- 
couraging his  attentions,  and,  if  we  are  to  believe  Tallemant  des 
Reaux,  appeared  one  evening  on  the  balcony  of  her  apartments 
in  a  peignoir,  with  her  hair  falling  over  her  shoulders,  in  order 
to  please  the  King,  who  was  transported  with  admiration. 
"  Dieu  ! "  cried  she,  "  how  foolish  he  is  !  "  And  she  laughed 
heartily. 

Her  husband,  however,  did  not  laugh.  The  affair  had 
become  a  public  scandal.  Even  in  the  streets,  people  laughed 
and  jested  about  the  infatuation  of  the  King,  and  "  talked  with 
the  utmost  freedom  of  his  Majesty  and  of  the  corruption  and 
debaucheries  of  his  Court."2  If  Conde  had  little  love  for  his 
wife,  he  was  exceedingly  jealous  of  his  honour,  and,  to  Henri's 
intense  chagrin,  absolutely  declined  to  accept  the  odious  role  he 
had  intended  for  him,  and  began,  in  his  Majesty's  phrase,  "to 
play  the  devil." 3 

In  vain,  the  King  endeavoured  to  reassure  him  as  to  the 
innocence  of  his  intentions ;  in  vain,  the  Constable,  at  his 
Majesty's  request,  made  the  strongest  representations  to  his  son- 
in-law.  Conde  was  deaf  to  all  appeals,  and,  towards  the  middle 
of  June,  carried  off  his  wife  to  Valery,  in  the  hope  that,  during 
his  absence,  the  King's  passion  might  cool  or  be  diverted  to 
some  fresh  object. 

Henri  IV.  was  in  despair.     In  obedience  to  his  orders,  the 

1  The  Dowager-Princesse  de  Conde  was,  through  her  mother,  a  niece  of  the 
Constable. 

■  L'Estoile. 

3  "  Mon  ami — M.  le  Prince  (Conde)  est  icy  qui  faict  le  diable  ;  vous  seriez  en 
colcre  et  auriez  hontc  des  choses  qu'il  dit  de  moi  ;  enfin,  la  patience  m'echappera  et 
je  me  resous  de  bien  parler  a,  lui"  (Henri  IV.  to  Sully,  9  June,  1609). 


156       THE  LOVE-AFFAIRS  OF  THE    COND&S 

poet  Malherbe  consented  "  to  degrade  his  muse  to  the  office  of 
pander," *  and  composed  stanzas  wherein  the  King,  under  the 
name  of  Alcandre,  cries  : 

II  faut  que  je  cesse  de  vivre 
Si  je  veux  cesser  de  souffrir  ; 

and  the  princess,  under  the  name  of  Orante,  replies  : 

La  cosur  outree  du  meme  ennui, 
Jurait  que  s'il  mourait  pour  elle, 
Elle  mourait  aussi  pour  lui.2 

Conde  and  his  wife  remained  at  Valery  until  the  first  week 
in  July,  when  they  were  compelled  to  return  to  Court,  in  order 
to  attend  the  marriage  of  Cesar  de  Vendome,  Henri  IV.'s  eldest 
son  by  Gabrielle  d'Estrees,  and  Mile,  de  Mercceur.  The  King's 
passion  became  more  violent  than  ever,  and  his  conduct  would 
have  been  ludicrous  to  the  last  degree  had  it  been  less  culpable. 
Not  only  did  he  continue  to  commission  Malherbe  to  bombard 
the  princess  with  elegies  and  sonnets,  but  "  one  saw  him  alter  in 
less  than  no  time  his  hair,  his  beard,  and  his  countenance."  He 
who  had  hitherto  been  distinguished  from  the  nobles  of  his  Court 
by  the  simplicity  and  even  negligence  of  his  attire,  might  now 
be  seen  dressing  and  adorning  himself  with  as  much  care  as  the 
youngest  and  most  dandified  of  his  courtiers,  and,  on  one  occasion, 
he  appeared  at  a  tilting-match  wearing  "  a  scented  ruff,  a  doublet 
with  sleeves  of  Chinese  satin,  and  the  colours  of  the  Princesse 
de  Conde,  who  called  him  '  her  knight.'  "  3  "  The  King  is  well 
and  grows  younger  every  day,"  wrote  Malherbe  to  his  friend 
Peiresc. 

The  unfortunate  husband  began  to  "  play  the  devil  "  again, 
and,  though  Henri,  in  the  hope  of  bending  him  to  his  will,  had 
the  meanness  to  give  orders  to  Sully  that  the  instalment  of  his 
pension  due  at  Midsummer  should  not  be  paid  him,  and  to 
threaten  him  with  even  more  severe  measures  unless  he  mended 
his  ways,  his  complaints  grew  louder  than  ever.  Violent  scenes 
took  place  between  him  and  the  King,  in  one  of  which  Conde 

1  Andre  Chenier,  "  les  Poesies  de  Malherbe." 

-  Henrard,  "Henri  IV.  et  la  Princesse  de  Conde." 

3  Tallemant  des  Reaux,  "  Historiettes." 


AN   AMOROUS   ESCAPADE  i57 

allowed  the  word  "  tyranny  "  to  escape  him,  and  his  Majesty, 
losing  all  control  of  himself,  replied  that  the  only  occasion  on 
which  he  had  merited  such  a  reproach  was  when  he  had  recog- 
nized the  prince  for  what  he  was  not — that  is  to  say,  a  legitimate 
son. 

Finally,  Conde*  took  his  wife  back  to  Valery,  and,  though 
Henri  employed  every  means  in  his  power  to  induce  him  to 
return,  it  was  to  no  purpose.  "  Beaumont,"  writes  the  King  to 
the  Constable,  on  23  September,  "returned  yesterday,  and  says 
that  he  found  our  friend  (Conde)  more  unmanageable  than  ever. 
He  leaves  Valery  this  morning  for  Muret."  1 

Muret  was  a  chateau  belonging  to  Conde  in  Picardy,  not  far 
from  the  Flemish  frontier,  and  the  prince's  pretext  for  removing 
thither  was  the  excellent  hunting  which  the  neighbourhood 
afforded.  Early  in  November,  he  and  his  wife  went  to  join  a 
hunting-party  at  the  Abbey  of  Verteuil,  and,  while  they  were 
there,  M.  de  Traigny,  governor  of  Amiens,  invited  the  Princesse 
de  Conde  and  the  dowager-princess,  who  was  with  her,  to  dine 
at  his  country-house,  situated  some  three  leagues  from  the 
abbey.  We  will  allow  Lenet,  the  faithful  servant  of  the  Condes, 
who  had  the  story  from  the  princess's  own  lips,  to  relate  what 
followed : 

"  It  would  seem  very  much  as  though  this  party  had  been 
concerted  with  the  King,  but  he  was,  at  any  rate,  informed  of 
it  by  the  Sieur  de  Traigny,  who  always  abetted  him  in  his 
pleasures,  so  that  the  princesses,  while  on  their  way  thither,  saw 
a  carriage  pass  with  the  King's  liveries  and  a  great  number  of 
hounds.  The  princess-mother,  who  was  passionately  attached 
to  her  son,  and  watched  the  actions  of  the  young  princess  very 
narrowly,  feared  that,  under  the  pretext  of  some  hunting 
excursion,  the  King  had  prepared  for  them  a  rendezvous.  She 
summoned  the  huntsmen,  whom  she  saw  at  a  distance  ;  but  one 
of  them,  advancing  before  the  others,  came  to  the  door  of  the 
coach  to  answer  the  princess's  questions,  and  disarmed  her 
fears,  by  telling  her  that  a  captain  of  the  hunt,  who  was  in  the 
neighbourhood  to  celebrate  the  feast  of  St.  Hubert,  had  placed 
1  Cited  by  the  Due  d'Aumale,  "  Ilistoire  des  Princes  de  Conde." 


158       THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS  OF  THE  CONDfeS 

the  relays  where  she  saw  them,  because  he  was  hunting  a  stag 
with  some  of  his  friends.  Whilst  the  princess-dowager  was 
speaking  to  the  huntsman,  the  young  princess,  who  was  at  the 
coach-door,  glanced  at  the  others,  who  stood  some  little  distance 
off,  and  perceived  that  one  of  them  was  the  King,  who,  the 
better  to  disguise  himself  under  the  livery  he  wore,  had  put  a 
large  black  patch  over  his  left  eye  and  held  two  greyhounds  in  a 
leash.  •  The  princess  told  us  that  she  had  never  been  more 
astonished  in  her  life,  and  that  she  did  not  dare  to  mention 
what  she  had  seen  to  her  mother-in-law,  from  fear  lest  she  should 
inform  her  husband.  At  the  same  time,  she  confessed  to  us 
that  this  gallantry  had  not  displeased  her,  and,  continuing  her 
story,  she  told  us  that,  having  arrived  at  Traigny  and  entered 
the  salon,  she  remarked  upon  the  extreme  beauty  of  the  view, 
whereupon  Madame  de  Traigny  said  to  her  that,  if  she  cared  to 
put  her  head  out  of  a  window  which  she  would  show  her,  she 
would  see  one  still  more  agreeable.  Advancing  to  it,  she 
perceived  that  the  King  was  placed  at  the  window  of  a  pavilion 
opposite,  he  having  preceded  her  after  having  had  the  pleasure 
of  seeing  her  on  the  road,  and  that  he  held  all  the  time  one 
hand  to  his  lips,  as  though  to  send  her  a  kiss,  and  the  other  to 
his  heart,  to  show  her  that  he  had  been  wounded. 

"  The  surprise  of  this  rencontre  did  not  allow  the  princess 
time  to  reflect  what  she  should  do,  and  she  retired  abruptly 
from  the  window,  exclaiming,  '  Ciel !  what  is  this  ?  Madame, 
the  King  is  here  ! '  On  which  the  princess-dowager,  greatly 
incensed,  divided  her  words  between  giving  directions  for  the 
horses  to  be  immediately  harnessed  to  her  coach  and  loading 
Traigny  and  his  wife  with  reproaches.  Even  the  King,  who 
hastened  to  the  spot  on  hearing  the  commotion,  did  not  escape 
her  anger.  The  enamoured  prince  employed  all  the  entreaties 
which  his  passion  could  dictate,  and  all  the  promises  possible, 
to  induce  her  to  remain,  but  to  no  purpose ;  for  the  princesses 
re-entered  their  coach  and  returned  forthwith  to  Verteuil,  where 
that  same  night  the  princess-mother  broke  the  promise  which 
the  King  had  extracted  from  her,  and  related  the  whole  story 
to  her  son." 


ANGER  OF   HENRI   IV.  AGAINST  COND£    159 

A  few  days  later,  Conde"  received  a  letter  from  the  King, 
written  in  a  strain  half-coaxing  and  half-menacing,  summoning 
him  to  Court,  to  be  present  at  the  approaching  accouchement 
of  the  Queen.  Etiquette  required  that  the  first  Prince  of  the 
Blood  should  be  in  attendance  on  these  auspicious  occasions, 
and  it  was  impossible  for  him  to  refuse.  But  he  came  alone. 
Henri  was  furious,  and  his  anger  and  disappointment  rendered 
him  so  insupportable  to  all  about  him,  that  Marie  de'  Medici 
herself  begged  Conde  to  send  for  his  wife,  promising  to  keep 
the  strictest  watch  over  her.  Such  was  the  King's  wrath  that 
he  apparently  could  not  trust  himself  to  interview  his  cousin 
personally,  but  sent  for  the  prince's  secretary  Virey,1  and  told 
him  that,  if  Conde*  desired  a  divorce  from  his  wife,  he  would  not 
oppose  it,  and  would  even  undertake  to  obtain  the  parents' 
consent.  The  prince,  it  should  be  explained,  had  no  such  wish, 
but,  a  few  months  before,  after  a  stormy  interview  with  the 
King,  he  had  chanced  to  observe  to  the  Due  de  Villeroy,  whom 
he  had  met  on  leaving  the  royal  presence,  and  who  had  inquired 
the  cause  of  his  agitation,  that,  rather  than  consent  to  his  own 
dishonour,  or  expose  himself  any  longer  to  his  Majesty's  anger, 
he  would  get  himself  "  dismarried "  ;  and  these  hasty  words, 
which  had  been  duly  reported  to  the  King,  had  been  wrested 
into  a  request  for  a  divorce.2 

Virey  withdrew,  and  the  next  day  returned  and  handed  the 
King  a  very  skilfully-worded  memorial  from  Conde,  which  had 
been  drafted  for  him  by  the  President  de  Thou,  wherein  he 
begged  his  Majesty  to  appoint  such  persons  as  he  might  think 
fit  to  assist  him  with  their  counsel  in  this  delicate  affair; 
adding  that,  until  the  matter  was  decided,  he  did  not  doubt 
that  the  King  would  think  it  necessary  that  the  princess  should 
remain  at  Muret. 

1  Claude  Enoch  Virey  (1566-1636).  He  was  a  Doctor  of  Laws,  had  fought  as  a 
Catholic  volunteer  in  Henri  IV.'s  army  at  the  battles  of  Arques  and  Ivry  and  at  the 
sieges  of  Paris  and  Rouen,  and  was  a  poet  of  some  distinction.  The  President  de 
Harlay,  whose  life  he  had  saved  on  the  Day  of  the  Barricades,  procured  him  a  post 
on  the  educational  staff  of  the  young  Conde,  and  he  was  subsequently  appointed  his 
private  secretary. 

2  Due  d'Aumale,  "Histoire  des  Princes  de  Conde." 


160       THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS  OF  THE  COND&S 

This  answer  completely  disconcerted  the  amorous  monarch's 
plans,  and  made  him  more  angry  than  ever.  Ignoring  the 
memorial,  he  turned  furiously  upon  Virey,  to  whose  influence 
he  attributed  the  firm  tone  which  Conde  maintained,  reproached 
him  bitterly  with  the  counsels  he  had  given  the  prince,  threatened 
him  with  his  severe  displeasure,  and,  finally,  dismissed  him, 
bidding  him  tell  his  master  that,  if  he  declined  to  yield  to  his 
will  or  attempted  the  slightest  violence  against  the  princess,  he 
would  give  him  cause  to  rue  it.  He]  added  that,  had  he  been 
still  only  King  of  Navarre,  he  would  at  once  have  challenged 
the  prince  to  a  duel. 

After  receiving  the  King's  message,  Conde  decided  to  feign 
submission,  and  accordingly  begged  his  Majesty's  leave  to 
return  to  Muret  to  fetch  his  wife.  His  request,  as  we  may 
suppose,  was  readily  granted,  and  on  25  November,  the  day  on 
which  the  ill-fated  Henriette-Marie  was  born,  he  set  out  for 
Picardy. 

On  the  evening  of  the  29th,  while  Henri  was  at  the  card- 
table,  word  was  brought  him  that  a  messenger  had  arrived 
from  Picardy  with  intelligence  that  Monsieur  le  Prince  had  early 
that  morning  left  Muret,  in  a  coach  with  his  wife,  accompanied 
by  his  chamberlain,  the  Baron  de  Rochefort,  Virey,  and  two  of 
the  princess's  ladies.  Conde  had  given  out  that  they  were 
bound  on  a  hunting-expedition ;  but  the  messenger — an  archer 
of  the  Guard  named  Laperriere — had  learned  from  his  father, 
who  was  in  the  prince's  service,  that  the  party  had  taken  the 
road  to  Flanders. 

The  consternation  of  the  King  knew  no  bounds.  The 
moment  he  learned  the  news,  he  at  once  summoned  his  most 
trusted  counsellors,  who  found  him  pacing  up  and  down  the 
room,  with  downcast  eyes  and  hands  clasped  behind  his  back. 
As  each  arrived,  he  informed  him  of  what  had  occurred  and 
demanded  his  advice,  refusing  to  give  him  even  a  moment  for 
reflection.  The  prudent  Sully  advised  his  master  to  let  the 
matter  rest,  pointing  out  that,  in  that  case,  the  fugitive  prince, 
being  unable  to  draw  his  pension,  would  soon  be  reduced  to  sue 
for   terms ;  whereas,  if  Henri  showed  anxiety  to  get  him  back, 


THE   FUGITIVES   PURSUED  161 

the  enemies  of  France  would  be  only  too  ready  to  assist  him,  in 
order  to  spite  the  King. 

The  infatuated  monarch,  however,  was  in  no  mood  to  follow 
such  counsel,  and  that  very  night,  without  pausing  to  reflect  on 
the  probable  effect  of  such  a  step,  wrote  to  the  governors  of 
Marie  and  Guise,  directing  them  to  send  the  whole  strength  of 
their  garrisons  to  capture  Conde,  "  wherever  he  might  be ; "  and 
despatched  La  Chaussee,  an  officer  of  the  Guards,  with  orders 
to  pursue  the  prince  even  over  the  frontier,  "and  if  he  should 
discover  him  in  any  town  beyond  his  dominions  to  address  him- 
self to  the  governor  and  magistrates  of  that  city,  and  to  inform 
them  that  his  Majesty  had  given  him  authority  to  require  and 
entreat  them  to  have  the  prince  and  his  suite  arrested  and  well 
guarded,  assuring  them  that,  in  acting  thus,  they  would  be 
doing  great  service  to  the  Archdukes."  1 

La  Chaussee  came  up  with  the  fugitives  at  Landrecies,  the 
first  Spanish  fortress  in  Flanders,  which  they  had  reached  in 
the  early  morning  of  the  30th.  Since  leaving  Muret,  they  had 
only  rested  for  a  few  minutes  at  a  village  inn ;  the  almost 
impassable  state  of  the  roads  had  compelled  them  to  abandon 
their  coach  before  crossing  the  Somme,  and  the  unfortunate 
princess  had  passed  fifteen  hours  on  the  crupper  of  Rochefort's 
saddle,  under  a  continuous  downpour  of  rain. 

La  Chaussee  produced  the  royal  warrant  for  the  arrest  of 
Conde,  but  the  authorities  of  Landrecies  refused  to  allow  it  to 
be  executed  until  they  had  referred  the  matter  to  the  Archdukes. 
Rochefort,  at  the  prince's  request,  was  permitted  to  proceed 
to  Brussels  to  beg  the  Archdukes  to  grant  his  master  a  safe- 
conduct  through  their  dominions,  in  order  that  he  might  visit 
his  sister,  the  Princess  of  Orange,2  at  Breda.     An  envoy  from 

1  In  May,  1598,  Philip  II.  had  ceded  the  Netherlands,  the  Franche-Comte,  and  the 
Charolais  to  his  daughter  Isabelle.  The  Archduke  Albert,  brother  of  the  Emperor 
Rudolph,  at  that  time  governor  of  the  Netherlands,  renounced  Holy  Orders  in  order 
to  marry  the  princess  ;  and  the  pair  had  since  exercised  a  sort  of  vice-regal  authority, 
with  very  extensive  powers.  Their  contemporaries  always  called  them  "  the  Arch- 
dukes." 

2  Eleonore  de  Bourbon  had  married  Philip  William,  of  Nassau,  Prince  of  Orange, 
eldest  son  of  William  the  Silent,  in  1606. 

M 


162       THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE  CONDES 

Henri  IV.  arrived  almost  simultaneously  to  denounce  the  prince 
as  a  traitor  and  an  enemy  to  the  public  peace,  and  to  request 
their  Highnesses  to  permit  his  arrest,  or,  at  least,  not  to  grant 
him  an  asylum  in  Flanders. 

The  Archdukes  found  themselves  in  a  very  embarrassing 
position,  and  took  refuge  in  a  compromise.  They  declined  to 
allow  the  rights  of  nations  to  be  violated  by  the  arrest  of 
Conde,  and  granted  his  wife  permission  to  continue  her  journey, 
but  gave  orders  that  the  prince  should  quit  the  Netherlands 
within  three  days. 

Rochefort  returned  to  Landrecies  with  this  answer  on  the 
night  of  2-3  December,  and,  without  waiting  for  the  day, 
Conde  quitted  the  town  and  set  out  for  Cologne,  a  city  whose 
ancient  liberties  protected  him  from  any  attempt  at  moles- 
tation by  his  enraged  Sovereign.  On  the  following  morning, 
the  princess,  under  the  charge  of  the  faithful  Virey,  started  for 
Brussels,  where  she  arrived  the  same  night,  and  was  lodged  at 
the  Hotel  de  Nassau,  the  residence  of  the  Prince  of  Orange. 

The  Prince  and  Princess  of  Orange  were  at  Breda,  and 
their  palace  was  only  occupied  by  a  few  servants.  Virey  was 
very  uneasy  at  the  situation  in  which  he  found  himself,  since 
Madame  la  Princesse  had  for  the  moment  no  protector  at  hand 
but  himself,  and  he  feared  lest  Praslain,  the  envoy  whom 
Henri  IV.  had  despatched  to  Brussels,  should  take  advantage 
of  his  helplessness  and  carry  her  off.  Such,  indeed,  was 
Praslain's  intention,  but,  before  resorting  to  this  extreme  step, 
he  wished  to  endeavour  to  obtain  the  consent  of  the  Prince  of 
Orange,  for  which  purpose  he  set  off  for  Breda.  There  he  was 
received  by  the  princess,  who  told  him  what  she  thought  of  his 
proposal  in  such  very  forcible  language,  that  he  was  glad  to 
beat  a  retreat.  He  hastened  back  to  Brussels,  but,  on  arriving 
there,  found  a  guard,  which  Virey  had  contrived  to  obtain, 
posted  before  the  Hotel  de  Nassau,  and  was  obliged  to  abandon 
all  idea  of  a  coup  de  main. 


CHAPTER   XII 

Condd  summoned  by  the  Archdukes  to  Brussels — He  places  himself 
under  the  protection  of  Philip  III.  of  Spain — Mission  of  the  Marquis  de 
Cceuvres  to  Brussels — His  attempted  abduction  of  the  Princesse  de  Condd — 
Condd  declared  guilty  of  high  treason — He  leaves  Brussels  for  Milan — Henri 
IV.  and  his  Ministers  threaten  the  Archdukes  with  war  if  the  princess  is  not 
given  up — Despatches  of  the  Spanish  Ambassador  to  his  Court — Conde"  at 
Milan — Assassination  of  Henri  IV. — Embarrassing  position  of  Conde-  in 
regard  to  Spain — He  returns  to  Brussels,  but  declines  to  see  his  wife — His 
return  to  France — He  contemplates  the  dissolution  of  his  marriage,  but 
ultimately  consents  to  a  formal  reconciliation  with  the  princess — His  turbulent 
conduct  during  the  regency  of  Marie  de'  Medici — His  arrest  and  imprison- 
ment— The  princess  magnanimously  shares  her  husband's  captivity — 
Dangerous  illness  of  the  prince — Birth  of  Anne  Genevieve  de  Bourbon — ■ 
Release  of  the  Condes. 

TOWARDS  the  end  of  December,  the  Archdukes 
summoned  Conde  to  Brussels,  under  the  pretext 
that  an  interview  with  the  French  representative 
might  induce  him  to  return  to  France.  But  the  real  reason 
was  that  it  had  been  suggested  to  them  by  Spinola  1  that,  if 
the  prince  could  be  persuaded  to  place  himself  under  the  pro- 
tection of  Spain,  he  might  be  utilized  as  a  very  valuable 
instrument  against  France. 

On  his  arrival  in  Brussels,  Conde  expressed  himself  willing 
to  return,  if  guaranteed  a  place  of  surety  in  his  government 
of  Guienne  ;  but  Henri  IV.  refused  even  to  consider  such  a 
proposal,  and  insisted  on  an  immediate  and  unconditional 
return,  promising  him  only  a  free  pardon.  At  the  instance 
of  Spinola,  who  had  rapidly  acquired  considerable  influence 
over  him,  Conde  thereupon  decided  to  appeal  to  the  King  of 

1  Spinola,  who  had  come  to  the  Netherlands  in  1602,  at  the  head  of  a  force 
maintained,  like  the  old  condottieri,  at  his  own  expense,  had,  after  the  reduction  of 
Ostend,  been  given  the  command  of  all  the  Spanish  and  Italian  troops  in  Flanders. 

163 


1 64       THE  LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   COND&S 

Spain  for  protection.  The  Council  of  State  at  Madrid  was 
unanimously  of  opinion  that  the  request  should  be  acceded  to  ; 
and  Philip  III.  accordingly  charged  his  ambassador  at  the 
French  Court,  Don  Inigo  de  Cardenas,  to  inform  Henri  IV. 
that  he  had  taken  the  Prince  de  Conde  under  his  protection, 
"with  the  object  of  acting  as  a  mediator  in  the  matter  and 
contributing  everything  in  his  power  towards  the  repose  and 
happiness  of  the  Very  Christian  King."  The  remainder  of 
the  despatch,  however,  leaves  no  doubt  that  his  Catholic 
Majesty  was  animated  by  very  different  sentiments  towards 
Henri  IV.  from  those  which  Don  Inigo  was  instructed  to 
express.1  At  the  same  time,  Philip  wrote  to  Conde"  to  assure 
him  of  his  sympathy,  and  despatched  one  of  his  Council,  the 
Count  Anovar,  to  Brussels,  with  instructions  to  watch  over  the 
interests  of  the  prince,  who,  on  his  side,  engaged  to  make  no 
terms  with  Henri  IV.  without  the  consent  of  Spain. 

Meanwhile,  the  Connetable  de  Montmorency,  either  because 
he  really  believed  the  reports  which  were  being  industriously 
circulated  by  French  agents  in  Brussels  that  Conde  was  ill-treat- 
ing his  wife,  or,  more  probably,  out  of  dishonourable  servility 
to  the  King,  had  intervened  in  the  affair,  and  despatched  to 
Flanders  one  of  his  relatives,  Louis  de  Montmorency-Boutteville, 
father  of  the  unfortunate  gentleman  whose  execution  for  duel- 
ling caused  such  a  painful  sensation  seventeen  years  later. 
Boutteville  was  the  bearer  of  a  letter  to  the  Archdukes,  in  which 
the  Constable  complained  bitterly  of  the  alleged  sufferings  of 
his  daughter,  and  besought  their  Highnesses  to  restore  his 
beloved  child  to  him.  His  request  was  refused,  and  the  reports 
as  to  Conde's  ill-treatment  of  his  wife  would  appear  to  have 
been  altogether  devoid  of  foundation.  Nevertheless,  the  young 
princess,  who  had  little  love  for  her  husband  and  naturally 
resented  the  strict  surveillance  to  which  she  was  subjected,  was 
becoming  more  and  more  dissatisfied  with  her  life  at  Brussels. 
If  she  had  done  nothing  to  encourage  the  advances  of  Henri  IV., 
she  had    certainly  not  been  insensible    to  the  homage  of  so 

1  Simancas  Collection,  cited  by  the  Due  d'Aumale,  "  Histoire   des  Princes  de 

Conde." 


HEXRY    II    UK    BOURBON,    PRIXCK    DK   CONDI': 

KKii.M    AN    KNGKAVIM,    liV    MATIIOMEK 


ABDUCTION  OF  THE  PRINCESS  RESOLVED  UPON  165 

great  a  monarch,  and  many  years  later  was  wont  to  recall  it 
with  pride  and  emotion.  Moreover,  intrigues  of  all  kinds  were 
at  work  to  further  the  King's  odious  designs.  The  wife  of  the 
French  Ambassador  at  Brussels,  Brulart  de  Berny,  visited 
Madame  la  Princesse  constantly  and  enlarged  on  the  glories  of 
which  she  was  deprived  by  her  husband's  jealousy  ;  two  of  her 
waiting-women  had  been  bribed  and  added  their  persuasions  to 
those  of  the  Ambassadress ;  while  Girard,  a  secretary  of  the 
Constable,  was  continually  travelling  to  and  fro  between  Paris, 
Chantilly,  and  Brussels,  bearing  letters  and  instructions. 

Towards  the  end  of  January,  Henry  IV.  despatched  an  envoy 
extraordinary  to  Brussels,  in  the  person  of  Annibal  d'Estrees, 
Marquis  de  Cceuvres,  brother  of  the  beautiful  and  ill-fated 
Gabrielle.  Cceuvres  very  speedily  perceived  that  there  was 
small  likelihood  of  being  able  to  persuade  the  Archdukes  to 
surrender  the  princess  to  her  relatives,  or  rather  to  the  King, 
and,  on  9  February,  wrote  to  his  Majesty  to  obtain  his  consent 
to  a  plan  which  he  had  formed  for  the  abduction  of  the  young 
lady.  Henri  immediately  sent  the  required  authorization,  but, 
unfortunately  for  the  success  of  the  enterprise,  the  mere  prospect 
of  once  more  beholding  the  object  of  his  passion  transported 
him  to  such  a  degree  that  he  was  quite  unable  to  conceal  his 
joyous  anticipations,  either  from  his  entourage  or  even  from  his 
long-suffering  consort.  The  jealous  Queen  took  advantage  of 
this  indiscretion  to  acquaint  the  Nuncio  Ubaldini,  a  devoted 
friend  of  the  Medici  family,  with  what  was  in  the  wind ;  the 
Nuncio,  in  his  turn,  communicated  the  news  to  the  Spanish 
Ambassador,  who  lost  no  time  in  sending  a  courier  to  Brussels 
to  put  Spinola  on  his  guard. 

Spinola,  fearing  lest  Conde,  if  informed  of  the  proposed 
abduction  of  his  wife,  might  create  a  scandal,  contented  himself 
with  arousing  his  suspicions  sufficiently  to  induce  him  to  beg 
the  Archdukes  to  receive  the  princess  into  their  own  palace.  To 
this  their  Highnesses  readily  consented,  and  14  February  was 
fixed  for  the  departure  of  Madame  la  Princesse  and  her  attend- 
ants from  the  Hotel  de  Nassau. 

Cceuvres   was  naturally  much  disconcerted  on  learning  of 


166       THE  LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   COND&S 

this  change  of  residence,  and  recognizing  that,  were  the  lady 
once  within  the  walls  of  the  archducal  palace,  any  such  measures 
as  he  was  contemplating  would  be  foredoomed  to  failure, 
determined  to  make  his  attempt  on  the  night  of  the  13th. 

His  plan  was  a  bold  one.  The  Princesse  de  Conde's  apart- 
ments abutted  on  the  garden  of  the  Hotel  de  Nassau,  which  was 
separated  from  the  ramparts  only  by  a  narrow  street.  Under 
cover  of  the  confusion  and  bustle  which  the  preparations  for  her 
removal  on  the  morrow  would  be  sure  to  entail,  she  was  to 
descend,  or  be  carried  into  the  garden,  pass  through  it,  and  gain 
the  street.  A  breach  sufficient  to  admit  of  her  egress  was  to  be 
made  in  the  ramparts,  and  on  the  far  side  of  the  moat,  which 
was  empty  at  this  time,  a  body  of  horse,  under  the  command  of 
Longueval  de  Manicamp,  governor  of  La  Fere,  would  be  wait- 
ing to  escort  her  to  the  frontier,  while  another  troop  would  cover 
their  flight.  Some  difference  of  opinion  seems  to  exist  as  to 
whether  the  lady  herself  was  privy  to  this  scheme  ;  but  the  fact 
that  one  of  her  waiting-women  had  carried  that  afternoon  to 
the  French  Embassy  a  quantity  of  her  mistress's  clothes  would 
certainly  seem  to  point  to  her  complicity. 

It  was  only  a  few  hours  before  the  moment  fixed  for  the 
execution  of  Cceuvres's  design  that  Spinola  learned  of  his 
intention,  through  the  treachery  of  a  French  adventurer  in  the 
marquis's  pay.  This  time  he  felt  obliged  to  inform  Conde,  who 
hastened  to  the  Archdukes  to  demand  a  guard,  after  which, 
beside  himself  with  anger  and  excitement,  he  hurried  hither  and 
thither,  calling  upon  every  one  he  met  to  assist  him  to  protect 
his  wife.  Soon  the  Hotel  de  Nassau  was  surrounded  by  soldiers, 
reinforced  by  five  hundred  armed  citizens,  whom  the  Prince  of 
Orange  had  procured  from  the  Burgomaster,  while  cavalry, 
preceded  by  torch-bearers,  patrolled  the  neighbouring  streets. 
These  warlike  preparations  brought  almost  the  whole  city  to 
the  spot,  and  "  bred  one  of  the  greatest  tumults  ever  known  in 
Brussels  ;  and  it  was  commonly  reported  and  believed  that  the 
King  of  France  was  himself  in  person  at  the  gates  to  carry 
away  the  princess  by  force."  1 

1  Cardinal  Bentivoglio,  "  Relazioni." 


COND&  DECLARED  GUILTY  OF  HIGH  TREASON  167 

The  same  day,  about  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  Henri 
IV.  had  quitted  Paris,  "very  jovial  and  much  bedecked,  contrary 
to  his  usual  custom,"  accompanied  by  four  coaches,  "  to  go  to 
meet  his  nymph,"  l  and  proceeded  to  Saint-Germain-en-Laye. 
But  the  nymph  did  not  arrive,  and,  in  her  stead,  came  a  mud- 
bespattered  courier  with  the  news  of  the  failure  of  the  attempt. 
The  discomfited  monarch  returned  to  Paris  in  a  very  ill-humour, 
and  wrote  a  most  unkind  letter  to  Cceuvres,  whom  he  stigma- 
tized as  "  a  blockhead  and  a  fool." 

That  enterprising  nobleman  had,  it  would  appear,  very 
narrowly  escaped  capture,  having  actually  entered  the  Hotel  de 
Nassau  before  he  learned  that  he  had  been  betrayed.  However, 
being  possessed  of  a  large  fund  of  assurance,  he  resolved  to 
brave  the  matter  out,  and  early  next  morning  presented  himself 
at  the  palace  of  the  Archdukes,  to  complain  of  the  insult  put 
upon  the  King,  his  master,  by  the  precautionary  measures 
adopted  the  previous  evening,  and  of  the  caluminous  reports 
that  were  being  circulated  concerning  himself.  The  Archduke 
Albert  replied  that  he  himself  had  given  no  credit  to  these 
reports,  but  that,  as  the  Prince  de  Conde  had  insisted  on  the 
necessity  for  a  guard,  he  had  felt  obliged  to  accede  to  his 
request. 

On  leaving  the  palace,  Cceuvres,  accompanied  by  the  French 
Ambassador,  Brulart  de  Berny,  the  Sieur  de  Preaulx,  counsellor 
to  the  Parlement  of  Paris,  and  Manicamp,  governor  of  La  Fere, 
proceeded  to  the  Hotel  de  Nassau,  where,  with  much  solemnity, 
he  handed  Conde  a  formal  indictment  declaring  him  guilty  of 
high  treason,  unless  he  forthwith  made  his  submission  to  the 
King.  To  this  indictment  the  prince  at  once  drew  up  a  reply, 
wherein  he  affirmed  that  "  he  had  left  France  to  save  his  life 
and  his  honour  ;  that  he  was  prepared  to  return  if  any  offer 
should  be  made  him  which  would  enable  him  to  reside  there  in 
security  ;  that  he  would  live  and  die  faithful  to  the  King  ;  but 
that,  when  the  King  should  stray  from  the  ways  of  justice  and 

1  Letter  of  Jehan  Simon,  secretary  to  the  Flemish  Ambassador  in  Paris,  to 
Pretorius,  Secretary  of  Slate  at  Brussels,  cited  by  Henrard,  "  Henri  IV.  et  la  Prin- 
cesse  de  Conde." 


1 68       THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   COND&S 

should  proceed  against  him  by  the  ways  of  violence,  he  held  all 
such  acts  as  should  be  done  against  him  null  and  invalid."  l 

After  this,  Conde,  fearing  or  feigning  to  fear,  that  it  was 
now  no  longer  safe  for  him  to  remain  in  the  Netherlands, 
determined,  on  the  advice  of  Spinola  and  the  Spanish  Ambassador 
at  Brussels,  to  seek  an  asylum  at  Milan.  Accordingly,  having 
exacted  a  solemn  promise  from  the  Archdukes  that  his  wife 
should  not  quit  their  palace  without  his  consent,  on  21  February, 
he  left  Brussels  secretly,  in  disguise,  accompanied  by  Rochefort, 
Virey,  and  one  of  Spinola's  officers  named  Fritima,  who  was  to 
act  as  guide  and  interpreter.  The  season  was  an  unusually 
severe  one,  and  the  travellers  suffered  many  hardships,  but  on 
the  last  day  in  March  they  reached  Milan  in  safety 

The  Spaniards  attached  great  importance  to  the  possession 
of  Conde's  person,  for,  as  first  Prince  of  the  Blood  and  next  in 
succession  to  the  King's  children,  he  might  prove  of  the  highest 
value  to  them  in  exciting  troubles  in  France,  should  Henri  IV. 
persist  in  his  hostile  projects  against  Spain,  while,  in  the  event 
of  negotiations,  his  extradition  might  be  dearly  sold.  In 
accordance  with  instructions  from  Madrid,  the  prince  was 
received  by  the  Spanish  governor,  Fuentes,  with  every  possible 
honour,  lodged  in  the  ducal  palace,  and  a  numerous  household 
appointed  to  wait  upon  him. 

Henri  IV.  and  his  Ministers,  finding  persuasion  of  no  avail 
with  the  Archdukes,  had  recourse  to  threats,  and  represented 
to  them  that,  unless  the  fair  Charlotte  were  surrendered,  war 
would  follow.  "The  repose  of  Europe  rests  in  your  master's 
hands,"  said  the  President  Jeannin  to  Pecquius,  the  Ambassador 
of  the  Archdukes  in  Paris  ;  "  peace  and  war  depend  on  whether 
the  princess  is  or  is  not  given  up."  And  the  King  himself 
reminded  the  Ambassador  that  Troy  fell  because  Priam  would 
not  surrender  Helen. 

The  gravity  of  these  speeches  was  enhanced  by  the  warlike 
preparations  which  were  in  progress  all  over  France  for  the 
execution  of  the  "  Great  Enterprise  "  :  the  scheme  of  liberating 

1  Due  d'Aumale,    "  Histoire   des   Princes   dc    Conde."     Cardinal  Bentivoglio, 
"  Relazioni." 


AN   INFATUATED  MONARCH  169 

Europe  from  the  domination  of  the  House  of  Austria  and  giving 
France  her  rightful  place  in  the  world,  which  Henri  IV.  had 
cherished  ever  since  his  accession  to  the  throne.  It  was,  how- 
ever, believed  by  many  that  these  formidable  preparations  had 
no  other  object  than  the  forcible  recovery  of  the  Princesse  de 
Conde,  and  Malherbe  wrote — 

"  Deux  beaux  yeux  sont  l'empire 
Pour  qui  je  soupire." 

Such,  undoubtedly,  was  the  opinion  of  the  Spanish  Ambas- 
sador. "  The  King  is  so  blinded  and  infatuated  by  his  passion," 
he  writes  to  Philip  III.,  "that  I  know  not  what  to  say  to  your 
Majesty  concerning  it,  and,  if  I  find  many  reasons  for  holding 
peace  to  be  secure,  in  regarding  affairs  from  a  political  stand- 
point, I  find  many  more  for  holding  war  to  be  certain  on  the 
ground  of  love."  He  goes  on  to  say  that  he  is  informed  that 
the  King's  infatuation  has  reached  such  a  point  that  he  is  ready 
to  sacrifice  everything  to  it.  His  health  is  much  affected  by  it  ; 
he  has  lost  his  sleep,  and  some  persons  believe  that  he  is  losing 
his  reason.  And  he  adds  that  he  is  in  daily  expectation  of 
seeing  Henri  IV.  marching  on  Brussels  at  the  head  of  a  large 
force  of  cavalry. 

A  fortnight  later,  the  Ambassador  writes  again — 

"  Within  the  last  three  days,  the  King  has  endeavoured  to 
persuade  the  Queen  to  request  her  Highness  the  Infanta  to  send 
the  princess  (de  Conde)  for  her  coronation.  The  Queen,  through 
the  King's  confessor  (Pere  Cotton),  has  begged  to  be  excused, 
observing  that  it  did  not  seem  to  her  to  be  becoming  to  appear 
as  a  third  party  and  risk  the  indignity  of  a  refusal  from  the 
Infanta.  The  King  fell  into  a  violent  rage,  and  declared  that 
the  Queen  should  not  be  crowned,  and  that  he  would  have 
nothing  done  to  displease  him.  The  Queen  wept  and  was 
much  distressed,  both  at  this  and  at  the  ardour  with  which  the 
King  is  pursuing  one  of  her  ladies." 

Henri  himself  pretended  to  be  entirely  engrossed  by  his 
passion.  "  I  am  so  worn  out  by  these  pangs,"  he  wrote  to 
Preaulx,  "that  I  am  nothing  but  skin  and  bone.  Everything 
disgusts  me.     I  avoid  company,  and  if,  to  observe  the  usages  of 


170       THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   COND&S 

society,  I  allow  myself  to  be  drawn  into  some  assemblies,  my 
wretchedness  is  completed." 

Fortunately  for  the  fame  of  Henri  IV.,  greatly  as  his  mind 
was  disturbed  and  his  judgment  distracted  by  this  miserable 
infatuation,  it  is  now  generally  admitted  that  the  affair  had 
little  influence  on  the  course  of  events.  The  war  upon  which 
he  was  about  to  enter  was  the  outcome  of  twelve  long  years  of 
persevering  negotiations  and  carefully-prepared  alliances,  and 
if  he  had  never  set  eyes  upon  the  Princesse  de  Conde,  the 
final. result  would  have  been  the  same.  "The  King  and  his 
Ministers,"  remarks  Henri's  latest  English  biographer,  Mr. 
P.  F.  Willert,  "  used  the  large  forces  assembled  for  quite  a 
different  purpose  as  a  bugbear  to  frighten  the  Archdukes.  But, 
when  they  refused  to  purchase  security  by  a  compliance  incon- 
sistent with  their  honour,  it  was  not  on  Brussels  that  the  French 
armies  prepared  to  march.  On  the  contrary,  four  days  before 
his  death  (10  May,  1610),  the  King  in  the  most  friendly  terms 
asked  the  Archduke  Albert's  permission  to  lead  his  army  across 
his  territory  to  the  assistance  of  his  German  allies :  a  permission 
granted  by  the  Archduke,  notwithstanding  the  opposition  of 
Spinola  and  of  the  Spanish  party  in  his  Council." * 

Nevertheless,  almost  up  to  the  very  !last,  there  were  many 
who  still  believed  that,  if  the  Princesse  de  Conde  were  given  up, 
war  might  be  averted.  Among  these  was  Henri  IV.'s  Jesuit 
confessor,  Pere  Cotton,  who,  in  an  interview  with  Pecquius, 
informed  him  that,  at  the  previous  Easter,  "  the  King  was  so 
sincerely  desirous  of  securing  his  salvation  that  he  had  readily 
forgotten  his  affection  for  the  princess  ;  but  that  all  his  passion 
had  been  rekindled  by  the  perusal  of  the  letters  which  she 
addressed  to  him."2 

1  "  Henry  of  Navarre  and  the  Huguenots  in  France." 

2  Pecquius  to  the  Archduke  Albert,  28  April,  1610.  It  appears  to  have  been  on 
this  occasion  that  Pere  Cotton  begged  the  Flemish  Ambassador  to  intimate  to  the 
Archdukes  that,  though  the  solemn  promise  which  they  had  given  Conde  might 
prevent  them  from  surrendering  his  wife,  they  might,  without  any  undue  strain 
to  their  consciences,  connive  at  her  escape,  since  it  was  undoubtedly  their  duty 
to  do  everything  in  their  power  to  avert  so  terrible  a  calamity  as  war.  But  this 
insidious  suggestion  their  Highnesses  very  honourably  declined  to  entertain. 


COND&  AT  MILAN  171 

Although  she  was  treated  with  extreme  kindness  by  the 
Infanta,  the  young  princess  had  grown  heartily  weary  of  the  dull 
little  Court  of  Brussels,  and  not  only  stimulated  the  passion  of 
her  royal  adorer  by  the  tenderness  of  her  replies  to  his  letters, 
but  complained  bitterly  of  the  restraints  to  which  she  was 
subjected,  and  which,  she  declared,  would  have  a  most  serious 
effect  upon  her  health,  unless  his  Majesty  procured  her  speedy 
liberation. 

Meanwhile,  Conde,  at  Milan,  was  becoming  as  bored  with 
the  imperturbable  gravity  and  solemn  pomp  which  surrounded 
him  as  was  his  young  wife  at  Brussels,  and,  in  order  to  find 
some  distraction  from  the  monotony  of  his  existence,  had  been 
driven  to  the  study  of  the  antiquities  of  the  neighbourhood  and 
to  beginning  a  translation  of  Tacitus,  under  the  guidance  of  his 
learned  secretary,  Virey.  Fearing  that  the  prince  might  be 
persuaded  to  cast  in  his  lot  definitely  with  the  Spaniards,  the 
French  Government  despatched  agents  to  represent  to  him  that 
it  would  be  more  consonant  with  his  dignity  as  a  Prince  of  the 
Blood  were  he  to  remove  to  Rome  and  place  himself  under  the 
protection  of  the  common  father  of  the  faithful,  rather  than 
under  that  of  the  common  enemy  of  his  race  and  country.  Conde 
seemed  disposed  to  adopt  this  suggestion,  but  the  arguments  of 
Fuentes,  and  the  news  of  the  invasion  of  Lombardy  by  the  Duke 
of  Savoy  and  Lesdiguieres,  caused  him  to  abandon  all  idea  of 
leaving  Milan,  and  to  place  himself  entirely  under  the  guidance 
of  Spain. 

Had  Henri  IV.  lived,  two  things  are  tolerably  certain  to  have 
happened  :  the  first,  that  the  Archdukes  would  sooner  or  later 
have  been  compelled  to  surrender  the  princess  ;  the  second,  that 
Conde  would  have  been  found  in  arms  against  his  country. 
But,  on  14  May,  161  o,  the  knife  of  Ravaillac  settled  the  question 
both  of  love  and  war,  and  Henri  de  Bourbon,  with  all  his  great- 
ness and  his  littleness,  his  splendid  schemes  and  his  shameful 
passions,  was  but  lifeless  clay. 

A  letter  from  the  governor  of  Alessandria  informed  Conde 
of  the  tragedy.  He  received  the  news  with  somewhat  mixed 
feelings,  in  which,  however,  to  his  honour  be    it  said,  regret 


172       THE  LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   CONDES 

seems  to  have  predominated.  His  position  was  a  very  em- 
barrassing one,  as  it  was  difficult  for  him  to  cast  off  the  ties 
which  bound  him  to  Spain.  Virey,  in  the  account  in  Latin 
verse  which  he  wrote  of  his  master's  adventures,  part  of  which 
he  subsequently  translated  into  French,  under  the  title  of 
"  l'Enlevement  innocent,  ou  la  retraite  clandestine  de  Mon- 
seigneur  le  Prince  (de  Conde)  avec  Madame  la  Princesse," 
affirms  that  Fuentes  came  to  the  prince  to  congratulate  him  as 
the  "  legal  heir  "  of  the  murdered  monarch  ;  and  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  the  Ministers  of  Philip  III.  approached  the  Pope,  with 
the  view  of  ascertaining  whether  he  would  be  prepared  to  annul 
the  marriage  of  Henry  IV.  and  Marie  de'  Medici,  in  which  event 
it  was  their  intention  to  put  Conde  forward  as  a  candidate  for 
the  throne.  As  they  received  no  encouragement  from  Paul  V., 
they  were  forced  to  abandon  the  idea,  but  they  still  cherished 
the  hope  that  the  prince  would,  on  his  return  to  France,  dispute 
the  Queen-Mother's  title  to  the  regency,  and,  consequently,  no 
objection  was  raised  to  his  departure  from  Milan. 

Conde  left  Milan  on  9  June,  and  deeming  it  unsafe  to  cross 
France  in  the  then  unsettled  state  of  the  kingdom,  and  while 
still  under  the  ban  of  high  treason,  proceeded  to  Brussels,  where 
he  arrived  nine  days  later.  In  spite  of  the  remonstrances  of  the 
Spanish  members  of  the  Archdukes'  Council,  he  lost  no  time 
in  despatching  the  faithful  Virey  to  Paris,  with  letters  for 
Louis  XIII.  and  the  Queen-Mother,  wherein  he  protested  his 
devotion  to  the  new  King.  His  overtures  were  very  graciously 
received,  and  Virey  returned  to  Brussels  with  an  assurance  that 
a  cordial  welcome  awaited  his  master.  The  secretary  brought 
also  a  letter  from  the  Dowager-Princesse  de  Conde,  in  which  she 
endeavoured  to  incite  her  son  against  his  wife,  informing  him 
that  up  to  the  last  moment  she  had  continued  to  encourage  the 
late  King's  passion,  and  begging  him  to  refuse  to  see  her  and  to 
leave  her  with  the  Archdukes.  Conde"  did  not  see  his  way  to 
comply  with  the  latter  injunction,  and  accordingly  consented  to 
the  Constable  "sending  for  his  daughter  ;"  but  he  firmly  refused 
to  meet  her.  "Monsieur  le  Prince  has  been  some  days  in 
Brussels,"   writes    Malherbe  to  his   friend    Peiresc,  under  date 


COND£  RETURNS  TO  FRANCE      173 

24  June,  1610.  "The  Infant  (the  Archduke)  told  him  that  he 
had  a  request  to  make  to  him.  The  latter,  who  did  not  doubt 
that  it  was  that  he  should  consent  to  see  his  wife,  replied  that 
he  besought  him  very  humbly  not  to  lay  any  command  upon 
him  in  which  he  should  be  reduced  to  the  extremity  of  dis- 
obeying him.  Thus  matters  remain  in  this  affair.  It  is  believed 
that  he  will  take  her  back,  but  that  he  wishes  to  be  requested  to 
do  so  by  the  Constable  and  her  relatives.  All  the  letters  which 
the  King  had  exhibited,  in  which  he  was  addressed  (by  the 
Princess)  as  'mon  tout*  and  '  mon  chevalier*  are  disavowed." 

On  8  July,  Conde  set  out  for  France,  and  on  the  afternoon  of 
the  1 6th  he  entered  Paris  by  the  Porte  Saint-Martin,  escorted 
by  the  Grand  Equerry  (the  Due  de  Bellegarde),  the  Dues 
d'fipernon  and  de  Sully,  and  a  number  of  the  nobility,  who,  by 
their  Majesties'  orders,  had  met  him  at  Bourget  As  he  rode 
through  the  streets  to  the  Louvre,  he  was  obviously  preoccupied 
and  ill  at  ease,  "  now  playing  with  the  collar  of  his  shirt,  now 
biting  his  gloves,  anon  fingering  his  beard  and  chin ;  and  one 
saw  clearly  that  he  heard  little  of  what  was  said  to  him,  and 
that  his  thoughts  were  elsewhere." 1 

The  cordiality  of  his  reception  by  the  young  King  and  the 
Regent  somewhat  reassured  him,  and  it  was  with  a  more 
confident  air  that  he  left  the  palace  and  rode  to  the  Hotel  de 
Lyon,  near  the  Porte  de  Bussy,  where  he  was  visited  by  the 
Comte  de  Soissons  and  other  nobles.  At  nine  o'clock  that 
evening,  he  returned  to  the  Louvre,  and  assisted  at  the  catcher  of 
the  King,  "  lequel  il  desguiletta,  tira  ses  chausses,  et  ne  partit  qu'il 
7ie  Veut  mis  au  lit"  thus  demonstrating  publicly  that  he 
repudiated  the  ambitious  views  which  some  attributed  to  him, 
and  had  no  other  desire  than  to  be  the  first  of  his  Majesty's 
subjects. 

For  some  little  time,  Conde"  persisted  in  his  refusal  to  be 
reconciled  to  his  wife.  He  was  much  incensed,  not  only  against 
the  lady  herself,  but  also  against  her  father,  on  account  of  the 
request  he  had  addressed  to  the  Archdukes,  and  the  accusation 
of  cruelty  to  the  princess  which  he  had  not  hesitated  to  bring 

1  "L'Estoile." 


174       THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   COND&S 

against  his  son-in-law,  though  the  Constable  pleaded,  in 
extenuation  of  his  conduct,  that  he  had  acted  under  constraint, 
and  that  his  letters  to  the  Archdukes  had  been  drafted  by  the 
President  Jeannin,  by  order  of  the  King.  Urged  on  by  the 
princess-dowager  and  his  sister,  the  Princess  of  Orange,  Conde 
actually  appears  to  have  contemplated  taking  steps  towards 
getting  his  marriage  annulled,  in  the  hope  that,  if  this  could  be 
effected,  the  Regent  might  offer  him  one  of  her  daughters,  or, 
failing  a  royal  princess,  he  might  espouse  the  wealthy  widow  of 
the  Due  de  Montpensier.  Finally,  however,  recognizing  the 
difficulties  of  the  undertaking  and  the  danger  of  incurring  the 
enmity  of  so  numerous  and  powerful  a  family  as  the  Mont- 
morencies,  he  yielded  to  the  solicitations  of  the  Constable  and 
the  Duchesse  d'Angouleme,  and,  at  the  beginning  of  August 
1610,  he  and  his  wife  were  formally  reconciled  at  Chantilly. 

We  shall  not  attempt  here  more  than  a  very  brief  account  of 
the  career  of  Conde  during  the  troublous  minority  of  Louis 
XIII.  For  a  moment  it  seemed  as  though  the  prince  were  well 
disposed  towards  the  new  government,  and  Marie  de*  Medici 
certainly  did  everything  in  her  power  to  confirm  him  in  his 
pacific  intentions.  She  purchased,  for  400,000  ecus,  the  Hotel 
de  Gondi,  in  the  Faubourg  Saint -Germain,  the  finest  residence  in 
Paris  after  the  Louvre,  and  presented  it  to  him  ;  she  confirmed 
him  in  all  his  offices  and  appointments,  increased  his  pension  to 
200,000  ecus,  and  gave  him  a  large  sum  to  pay  his  debts.  But 
Cond6  was  ambitious  and  meddlesome  ;  he  could  not  forget  that 
he  had  once  been  heir  to  the  throne,  and  that  ill-fortune  had  in 
all  probability  alone  deprived  him  of  the  regency. *  Scarcely 
had  he  returned,  than  he  became  the  principal  factor  in 
fomenting  opposition  to  the  Government,  with  the  design  of 
diminishing  the  Queen-Mother's  authority  to  the  advantage  of 
the  great  nobles  of  the  realm,  and  for  a  time  found  the  metier 

1  The  regency  in  France  belonged,  in  theory,  to  the  first  Prince  of  the  Blood. 
As,  however,  Catherine  de'  Medici  had  created  a  precedent  in  the  Queen-Mother's 
favour,  and,  as  Henri  IV.  had  as  good  as  named  her  Regent,  Marie  de'  Medici  had 
seized  the  office  immediately  on  the  late  King's  death.  But  for  the  circumstance  that 
Conde  was  in  exile  at  the  time,  it  is  open  to  question  whether  she  would  have  been 
permitted  to  do  this. 


ARREST   AND   IMPRISONMENT   OF   CONDE     175 

of  rebel  a  highly  profitable  one.  At  the  peace  of  Sainte- 
Menehould  (May,  1614),  he  received  Amboise  as  a  place  of 
surety,  and  the  sum  of  450,000  livres  in  cash  ;  and  at  the  Peace 
of  Loudon  (February,  1616),  so  enormously  had  the  wages  of 
rebellion  risen  in  the  interval,  the  government  of  Berry  and 
1,500,000  livres  were  required  to  purchase  his  neutrality.  But, 
at  length,  he  went  too  far,  and  a  rumour  having  spread  that  his 
principal  adherents,  the  Dues  de  Bouillon,  de  Longueville,  de 
Mayenne  and  de  Vendome,  were  about  to  make  an  attempt 
to  place  him  on  the  throne,  on  1  September,  1616 — which,  by 
a  singular  coincidence,  happened  to  be  his  birthday, — the 
Regent,  on  the  advice  of  Richelieu  and  Sully,  caused  him  to 
be  arrested  at  the  Louvre,  whither  he  had  come  to  attend  a 
meeting  of  the  Council. 

For  three  weeks  Conde  remained  a  close  prisoner  in  an 
upper  apartment  of  the  palace,  none  of  his  Household  being 
permitted  to  have  access  to  him,  with  the  exception  of  his 
apothecary,  "  whose  attentions  were  necessary  after  two  months 
of  a  somewhat  dissolute  life."  But  in  the  night  of  24-25 
September,  he  was  transferred  to  the  Bastille,  where  he  was 
treated  as  a  State  criminal,  and  subjected  to  a  most  rigorous 
confinement  in  a  gloomy  chamber,  the  windows  of  which  were 
so  closely  grated  that  scarcely  a  ray  of  light  was  permitted  to 
enter. 

Ever  since  their  formal  reconciliation  six  years  before,  the 
relations  between  Conde"  and  his  wife  had  been  very  cool  ; 
indeed,  it  would  appear  that  the  tie  which  bound  them  had 
become  merely  a  nominal  one.  Nevertheless,  on  learning  of  the 
arrest  of  her  husband,  the  princess,  who  was  at  Valery,  showed 
real  magnanimity.  Without  a  moment's  delay,  she  set  out  for 
Paris,  sent  the  prince  messages  assuring  him  of  her  sympathy 
and  devotion,  and  begged  the  Regent  to  allow  her  to  share  his 
captivity.  Her  request,  however,  was  refused,  and  she  received 
orders  to  leave  Paris  at  once  and  return  to  Valery. 

After  the  assassination  of  Concini  and  the  departure  of  the 
Queen-Mother  for  Blois,  Conde's  principal  adherents  were 
restored  to  favour,  but  he  himself  still  remained  in  the  Bastille. 


176       THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   CONDES 

However,  Louis  XIII.'s  favourite,  the  Due  de  Luynes,  sent  his 
uncle,  the  Comte  de  Modene,  to  visit  the  prince  and  report 
upon  his  state  of  health.  Conde  begged  him  to  convey  to 
the  King  his  hope  that,  if  reasons  of  State  required  that  he 
should  remain  a  prisoner,  his  Majesty  would  at  least  consent  to 
ameliorate  his  captivity,  and,  particularly,  to  permit  his  wife  to 
join  him.  Madame  la  Princesse,  it  should  be  mentioned,  had 
recently  obtained  permission  to  leave  Valery,  and  had  taken  up 
her  residence  at  Saint-Maur. 

The  immediate  result  of  this  interview  was  to  procure 
the  captive  a  little  more  air  and  light ;  but  the  unfortunate 
man's  health  had  been  so  much  affected  by  the  rigour  of  his 
confinement  that,  when  the  windows  of  his  room  were  opened 
he  fainted  away.  Some  days  later,  the  favour  which  he  had  so 
earnestly  requested,  was  also  granted.  We  read  in  a  journal  of 
the  time : 

"26  May,  1617.  The  Princesse  de  Conde  went  to  salute  the 
King,  and  to  entreat  him  to  permit  her  to  share  her  husband's 
captivity.  The  King  accorded  her  permission,  and  to  take  with 
her  one  demoiselle.  Upon  which,  her  little  dwarf,  having 
begged  him  to  consent  to  his  not  abandoning  his  mistress,  his 
Majesty  permitted  him  also  to  accompany  her.  The  same 
afternoon,  Madame  la  Princesse  entered  the  Bastille,  where  she 
was  received  by  Monsieur  le  Prince  with  every  demonstration 
of  affection,  nor  did  he  leave  her  in  repose  until  she  had  said 
that  she  forgave  him."  * 

The  prince  and  princess  remained  in  the  Bastille  until 
1 5  September,  when  they  were  transferred  to  the  Chateau  of 
Vincennes.  Here  Cond6  was  allowed  a  good  deal  more  liberty 
than  had  been  permitted  him  in  the  Bastille,  and  took  exercise 
daily  "  on  the  top  of  a  thick  wall,  which  was  in  the  form  of  a 
gallery."  In  the  last  days  of  December,  Madame  la  Princesse 
gave  birth  to  a  still-born  son,  "  and  was  more  than  forty-eight 

1  "  Journal  historique  et  anecdote  de  la  Cour  et  de  Paris,"  MSS.  of  Conrart,  cited 
by  Victor  Cousin,  "  la  Jeunesse  de  Madame  de  Longueville."  The  chronicler  speaks 
frequently  of  the  prince's  ill-treatment  of  his  wife,  for  which  he  appears  to  think 
there  was  no  justification, 


RELEASE  OF   COND&  177 

hours  without  movement  or  feeling.  Never  was  a  person  in 
greater  extremity  without  dying.  The  prince  desired  that  the 
child  should  receive  ecclesiastical  burial ;  but  the  Archbishop  of 
Paris  assembled  the  theologians,  who  decided  that,  since  it  had 
not  received  baptism,  it  had  not  entered  the  Church,  and  that 
no  funeral  ceremony  was  permissible."  * 

Ill-fortune  seemed  to  pursue  both  husband  and  wife.  On 
5  September,  161 8,  the  princess  gave  birth  to  twin  sons,  neither 
of  whom  survived,  and,  in  the  following  March,  Conde  fell 
dangerously  ill,  and  for  some  days  his  life  was  despaired  of. 
The  physicians  who  attended  him  attributed  his  illness  to  the 
state  of  profound  melancholy  into  which  his  captivity  and  the 
death  of  his  children  had  thrown  him,  and,  when  this  was  known, 
the  prince  became  the  object  of  universal  sympathy,  and  Louis 
XIII.  was  strongly  urged  to  consent  to  his  release.  His 
Majesty  promised  to  set  the  prisoner  at  liberty,  "  so  soon  as  he 
had  placed  his  (Conde's)  affairs  in  order,"  but  several  months 
passed,  and  Conde  still  remained  at  Vincennes,  though  granted 
every  indulgence  consistent  with  a  due  regard  to  his  security. 
However,  at  the  end  of  August,  another  domestic  event,  which, 
happily,  had  a  different  termination  from  the  others,  came  to 
relieve  the  monotony  of  his  captivity,  Madame  la  Princesse 
giving  birth  to  a  daughter,  Anne  Genevieve  de  Bourbon,  the 
future  Duchesse  de  Longueville,  the  heroine  of  the  Fronde. 

The  birth  of  this  little  girl  was  the  turning-point  of  her 
parents'  fortunes,  for  on  20  October  Conde  was  at  length  set  at 
liberty,  and  five  weeks  later  the  Parlement  of  Paris  solemnly 
registered  "  the  declaration  of  innocence  of  Monsieur  le  Prince? 
who  was  restored  to  all  his  honours  and  offices." 

His  three  years'  captivity,  which  cannot  be  said  to  have 
been  altogether  undeserved,  had  worked  a  great  change  in  the 

1  "Journal  historique  et  anecdote  de  la  Cour  et  de  Paris." 

2  In  the  preamble  of  this  document,  Louis  XIII.  strove  to  throw  the  responsibility 
for  his  cousin's  long  detention  upon  Marie  de'  Medici  and  her  adherents,  although 
the  real  cause  seems  to  have  been  the  fears  of  Luynes  lest  Conde  should  attempt  to 
dispute  his  ascendency  over  the  young  King.  "  Being  informed,"  said  his  Majesty, 
"of  the  reasons  by  which  his  detention  lias  been  excused,  I  have  found  that  there 
was  no  cause  save  the  machinations  and  evil  designs  of  his  enemies." 

N 


178       THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   COND&S 

character  of  Conde.  Like  so  many  others,  he  had  learned 
wisdom  from  adversity.  Until  then  he  had  struggled  against 
the  royal  authority  with  almost  as  much  zeal  as  his  father  and 
grandfather,  though,  since  the  death  of  Henri  IV.,  without  their 
justification.  But  the  lesson  he  had  received  had  been  a  severe 
one,  and  henceforth  the  King  had  no  more  loyal  servant,  his 
Ministers  no  stauncher  supporter,  than  the  first  Prince  of  the 
Blood.  His  enemies  have  accused  him,  and  with  only  too 
much  reason,  of  servility  towards  those  in  power  and  of  an 
excessive  regard  for  his  own  interests  ;  but,  on  the  whole,  the 
line  of  conduct  he  pursued  seems  to  have  been  patriotic  as  well 
as  prudent. 

Two  years  after  Conde's  release  from  Vincennes,  on  8  Sep- 
tember, 162 1,  his  wife  bore  him  a  son,  Louis,  Due  d'Enghien, 
who  was  to  confer  so  much  lustre  on  the  name  of  Conde  ;  and 
in  1629  a  second  son  was  born  to  them,  Armand,  Prince  de 
Conti, 


CHAPTER   XIII 

Birth  of  Louis  de  Bourbon,  Due  d'Enghien  (the  Great  Condd) — His 
early  years  at  the  Chateau  of  Montrond — His  education — His  personal 
appearance  and  character — Wealth  of  the  Condds — Life  at  Chantilly — ■ 
Isabelle  de  Boutteville  and  Marthe  du  Vigean — Tender  attachment  of  the 
Due  d'Enghien  and  Mile,  du  Vigean — Subserviency  of  the  Prince  de  Condd 
towards  Richelieu — He  solicits  for  Enghien  the  hand  of  the  Cardinal's  niece, 
Claire-Clemence  de  Maille-Brdzd — The  young  prince  protests  against  the 
sacrifice  demanded  of  him,  but  eventually  consents — He  is  presented  to 
Mile,  de  Maille-Bre'ze' — First  campaign  of  the  Great  Condd — He  denies  the 
rumour  that  he  has  "no  taste  for  \\\s  fiancee  " — Fete  at  the  Palais-Cardinal : 
a  ludicrous  incident — Marriage  of  the  Due  d'Enghien. 

VOLTAIRE  has  observed  that  the  sole  claim  of  the 
third  Prince  de  Conde  to  remembrance  is  that  he 
begat  one  of  France's  most  famous  generals.  To  be 
just,  he  should  have  added  that  the  claim  is  a  twofold  one,  inas- 
much as  not  only  was  he  the  father  of  the  Great  Conde,  but 
gave  him  one  of  the  most  thorough  military  educations  that 
prince  ever  received,  and  but  for  which,  though  his  fiery  valour 
would  doubtless  have  gained  him  some  distinction  in  the  field, 
it  is  scarcely  probable  that  he  would  ever  have  earned  the  title 
of  "  le  Grand!' 

The  birth  of  this  shoot  of  the  royal  race  was  an  event  of 
importance,  for,  after  five  years,  the  union  of  Louis  XIII.  with 
Anne  of  Austria  still  remained  without  result,  and  the  Due 
d'Orleans,  the  King's  younger  brother,  did  not  seem  inclined 
to  take  a  wife ;  but,  at  the  moment  when  it  occurred,  the  atten- 
tion of  the  Parisians  was  occupied  by  the  arrival  of  a  Carmelite 
monk,  Pere  Dominique  de  Jesus-Maria,  to  whom  miraculous 
powers  were  ascribed,  and  it  passed  almost  unnoticed. 

Conde  was  in  his  government  of  Berry  when  the  news  that 
he  had  a  son  reached  him,  and,  as  soon  as  she  was  able  to  travel, 

179 


180       THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   COND&S 

Madame  la  Princesse  set  out  for  Bourges,  to  take  the  boy  to  his 
father.  The  latter  had  already  made  up  his  mind  as  to  the 
way  in  which  his  heir  was  to  be  brought  up.  As  the  little 
prince  was  fragile  and  sickly,  and  he  dreaded  for  him  the  air 
of  Paris,  the  cares  of  an  over-indulgent  mother,  and  the  influ- 
ence of  the  fashionable  ladies  by  whom  the  princess  was  always 
surrounded,  he  had  decided  to  break  with  tradition  and  to 
establish  him  at  the  Chateau  of  Montrond,  a  fortified  castle 
belonging  to  him,  situated  at  the  confluence  of  the  Marmande 
and  the  Cher,  overlooking  the  little  town  of  Saint- Amand, 
where  he  would  be  placed  under  the  care  of  some  intelligent 
women  of  the  middle  class,  who  could  be  trusted  to  carry  out 
his  instructions  with  unquestioning  obedience. 

Such  an  arrangement  was  naturally  but  little  to  the  taste  of 
Madame  la  Princesse,  who  was  indignant  at  being  thus  separated 
from  her  son,  but  it  was  amply  justified  by  the  results.  In  the 
pure  country  air  the  boy's  health  steadily  improved,  while  his 
intelligence  was  quickly  perceived  to  be  far  in  advance  of  his 
age.  No  sooner  did  he  begin  to  speak  than  he  displayed  a 
remarkable  strength  of  will,  which  resisted,  as  far  as  a  child  can 
resist,  the  orders  of  his  nurses  ;  and  they  found  it  no  easy  task  to 
persuade  him  to  rise,  take  his  meals,  or  go  to  bed  at  the  hours 
which  they  considered  good  for  him.  He  feared  no  one  but  his 
father,  and,  when  the  latter  was  not  at  hand  to  correct  him,  it 
was  difficult  to  restrain  him  in  anything. 

On  2  May,  1626,  the  little  prince,  who  assumed  from  that 
day  the  title  of  Due  d'Enghien,1  was  taken  to  Bourges  to  be 
baptized,  the  ceremony  being  performed,  in  solemn  state,  by 
the  archbishop  of  the  diocese,  Roland  Hebert.  But,  save  on 
this  occasion,  he  was  never  permitted  to  leave  Montrond,  where 
he  led  a  healthy  out-door  life,  the  lessons  he  received  being 
frequently  imparted  under  the  guise  of  games,  so  as  to  tax  the 
mind  as  little  as  possible,  while  leaving  the  most  pleasant 
impression.  He  made  astonishing  progress,  particularly  in 
Latin,   and    quickly   began  to  evince   the   keenest   interest   in 

1  Enghien  is  the  modern  spelling ;  in  the  seventeenth  century  it  was  written 
Anguien. 


EDUCATION   OF  THE  DUC    D'ENGHIEN      181 

military  matters,  the  result  of  conversations  with  a  distinguished 
engineer  named  Sarrasin,  who  was  then  engaged  in  repairing  the 
defences  of  Montrond,  and  who  superintended  the  boy's  amuse- 
ments. "  When,  towards  the  end  of  the  year  1629,"  writes  the 
Due  d'Aumale,  "  the  Prince  de  Conde,  returning  from  Langue- 
doc,  stopped  at  his  Berry  fortress,  his  suite  beheld  with  some 
surprise  a  young  captain  of  seven,  who  ranged  in  order  of  battle, 
in  the  trenches  of  the  chateau,  the  children  of  the  neighbouring 
town  of  Saint-Amand,  evoked  the  heroes  of  ancient  Rome,  and 
harangued  them  in  Latin." 

At  the  close  of  the  following  year,  Conde  removed  his  son 
from  Montrond  to  Bourges,  to  continue  his  studies  at  the  Jesuit 
College  of  Sainte-Marie,  one  of  the  most  celebrated  of  the 
schools  which  the  Fathers  had  established  in  France.  Wishing 
to  avoid  the  complications  which  might  arise  from  the  presence 
near  his  son  of  a  man  of  quality,  he  selected  as  his  gouverneur, 
a  simple  gentleman  of  Dauphine,  La  Buffetiere  by  name,  "  a 
good  man,  faithful,  and  well-intentioned,  who  knew  how  to 
follow  to  the  letter  Monsieur  le  Prince's  instructions  for  the 
conduct  of  his  son."  l  Associated  with  him,  as  tutor  to  the 
prince,  was  a  learned  Jesuit,  Pere  Pelletier ;  while  a  doctor 
named  Montreuil  watched  over  his  health,  which  was  still  such 
as  to  occasion  his  father  some  anxiety. 

For  six  years  the  Due  d'Enghien  attended  the  Jesuit 
College  at  Bourges.  The  only  distinction  which  was  made 
between  him  and  the  other  pupils  was  a  little  gilded  balustrade 
which  encircled  his  chair,  and,  by  Monsieur  le  Prince's  orders, 
his  schoolfellows  were  strictly  forbidden  to  give  way  to  him, 
either  in  class  or  at  play.  Conde  himself,  who,  as  governor  of 
Berry,  resided  part  of  each  year  at  Bourges,  watched  over  and 
directed  the  education  of  his  son,  examined  his  compositions 
and  the  notes  which  he  took  at  lectures,  and  made  him  dance 
and  play  tennis  before  him.  When  absent  at  the  Court  or 
with  the  Army,  he  corresponded  regularly  with  the  boy,  and, 
the  better  to  judge  of  his  progress,  he  directed  him,  after  he  was 
eight  years  old,  always  to  write  to  him  in  Latin.     Gouverneur, 

1  Lenet,  "  Memoires. " 


182       THE  LOVE-AFFAIRS  OF  THE  COND&S 

tutor,  and  doctor  were  kept  busy  replying  to  the  letters  full  of 
questions,  instructions,  and  recommendations  with  which  the 
anxious  father  bombarded  them  ;  whilst  the  rector  of  the  Jesuit 
College  was  perpetually  being  enjoined  "to  pay  attention  to 
the  studies  and  conduct  of  my  son." 

The  pains  bestowed  upon  the  Due  d'Enghien's  education 
were  well  repaid ;  his  progress  delighted  his  instructors,  and 
must  have  satisfied  even  Monsieur  le  Prince.  At  twelve  years 
of  age,  when  he  finished  his  course  of  rhetoric,  such  was  his 
proficiency  in  Latin  that  he  wrote  and  spoke  it,  we  are  told,  as 
though  it  were  his  mother-tongue.  The  next  two  years  were 
devoted  to  the  study  of  philosophy  and  the  sciences,  which 
latter  term  included  logic,  ethics,  mathematics,  and  physics, 
after  which  Conde,  notwithstanding  that  his  son  had  already 
received  an  education  far  in  advance  of  that  which  was  then 
considered  sufficient  for  the  son  of  a  grand  seigneur ;  arranged 
that  he  should  go  through  a  course  of  law  under  the  direction 
of  Merille,  Professor  of  Jurisprudence  in  the  University  of 
Bourges. 

The  vacations  were  passed  at  Montrond,  to  which  the  young 
prince  was  permitted  to  invite  some  of  his  schoolfellows. 
But  his  tutors  and  certain  masters  came  also,  and  his  studies 
were  by  no  means  suspended,  though  physical  training — lessons 
in  dancing,  fencing,  and  riding — received  the  larger  share  of 
attention. 

At  the  end  of  the  year  1635,  Conde  judged  that  the  time 
had  come  for  his  son  to  lay  aside  the  scholar's  gown,  and 
accordingly  the  Due  d'Enghien  bade  farewell  to  the  Jesuits  of 
Bourges  and  set  out  for  Paris,  where  he  was  presented  to 
Louis  XIII.  After  a  short  visit  to  his  mother  at  Saint-Maur, 
he  set  out  for  Dijon  to  join  his  father,  who  had  lately  added 
the  government  of  Burgundy  to  that  of  Berry,  and  remained 
there  until  the  beginning  of  the  following  year.  He  then 
returned  to  Paris  and  entered  the  famous  "  Academie  royale 
pour  la  jeune  noblesse,"  established  some  years  previously  by  a 
retired  officer  of  the  army,  named  Benjamin,  and  recently 
transformed  into  a  kind  of  military  school  under  the  protection 


LOUIS    I    DK    IiOURBOX,    PRINCK    I)K   COXDK,    (THE    GREAT   COXDK) 

FROM     AN    K\(,KAVI\l,    |;Y     IACOUF.S    I.L'l'.IN 


APPEARANCE  AND  CHARACTER  OF  ENGHIEN    183 

of  Louis  XIII.  and  Richelieu.  Here  he  was  taught  everything 
which  concerned  the  profession  of  arms:  geography,  mathe- 
matics, fortification,  drawing,  fencing,  horsemanship,  being 
treated,  by  his  father's  wishes,  in  every  respect  as  the  other 
young  noblemen,  several  of  whom  became  his  close  friends,  and 
in  after  years  shared  his  labours  and  his  fame. 

After  twelve  months  of  earnest  work,  varied  by  short  visits 
to  Saint-Maur,  and  a  few  appearances  at  the  Court  and  in 
Society,  the  duke  quitted  Benjamin's  academy,  and  in  the 
spring  of  1638,  the  Prince  de  Conde  having  been  called  to  the 
command  of  the  army  in  Guienne,  Louis  XIII.  entrusted  him 
with  the  government  of  Burgundy  during  his  father's  absence. 

It  was  a  very  striking-looking,  as  well  as  a  very  learned, 
young  man  who,  one  fine  April  morning,  took  his  seat  in  the 
Parlement  of  Dijon,  "with  every  honour  and  testimony  of 
affection  possible."  "  His  eyes,"  writes  a  contemporary,  "  were 
blue  and  full  of  vivacity,  his  nose  was  aquiline,  his  mouth  very 
disagreeable,  from  being  very  large,  and  his  teeth  too  prominent. 
But  in  his  countenance  generally  there  was  something  great 
and  haughty,  somewhat  resembling  an  eagle.  He  was  not  very 
tall,  but  his  figure  was  admirably  well-proportioned.  He 
danced  well,  had  a  pleasant  expression,  a  noble  air,  and  a  very 
fine  head."  l 

Unhappily  for  the  Due  d'Enghien  and  for  France,  his  father 
and  his  teachers,  while  sparing  no  pains  to  develop  his  talents 
and  to  strengthen  his  body,  had  not  succeeded  in  correcting 
certain  grave  defects  of  character,  which,  as  he  grew  older,  were 
to  become  more  pronounced  and  to  end  by  tarnishing  his  fame. 
The  lad  was  fearlessly  brave,  open-handed,  quick-witted,  and 
full  of  energy  and  determination.  But  he  was  haughty  and  over- 
bearing, thoroughly  selfish,  and  supremely  indifferent  to  the 
sufferings  or  susceptibilities  of  others,  when  he  had  ends  of  his 
own  to  serve. 

When  the  Prince  de  Conde  had  married  Charlotte  de 
Montmorency,  he  was,  for  his  rank,  a  poor  man  ;  but  during  the 
last  few  years  the  family  had  become  one  of  the  wealthiest  in 

1  Madame  de  Motteville,  "Memoires." 


1 84       THE  LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   COND&S 

France.  The  prince  himself  held  the  rich  governments  of 
Berry  and  Burgundy,  and  several  other  offices,  and  had  received, 
at  different  times,  immense  sums  from  the  Crown  ;  while,  after 
the  execution  of  the  unfortunate  Henri  II.,  Due  de  Montmorency, 
for  high  treason,  in  1632,  the  princess  and  her  two  elder 
sisters,  the  Duchesses  d'Angouleme  and  de  Ventadour,  had 
divided  between  them  the  vast  fortune  of  the  Montmorencies.1 
To  Madame  la  Princesse  fell  the  largest  share  of  the  landed 
property,  including  the  estates  of  Ecouen,  Mello,  Chateauroux, 
Meru,  and  La  Versine  ;  while,  some  time  afterwards,  Chantilly 
and  Dammartin  were  also  bestowed  upon  her,  though  she 
appears  to  have  been  granted  merely  the  enjoyment  of  them 
for  life  ;  and  it  was  not  until  the  autumn  of  1643  that  they 
became  the  absolute  property  of  the  Condes,  in  recognition  of 
the  military  services  of  the  Due  d'Enghien. 

Although  the  Princesse  de  Conde  paid  occasional  visits  to 
her  country  seats  of  Mello,  Meru,  and  La  Versine,  the  greater 
part  of  the  summer  was  always  passed  by  her  at  Chantilly, 
whither  she  came  with  a  little  party  composed  of  the  most 
intimate  friends  of  her  children,  and  a  sprinkling  of  wits  and 
men  of  letters.  Monsieur  le  Prince,  who  did  not  care  for 
country  pleasures,  usually  remained  in  Paris,  and,  in  his  absence, 
etiquette  was  laid  aside,  and  the  guests  permitted  to  amuse 
themselves  as  they  pleased.  Lenet,  in  his  "  Me  moires,"  has 
left  us  an  interesting  account  of  how  the  company  at  Chantilly 
passed  their  time : 

"The  excursions  were  the  most  agreeable  possible  to 
imagine.      The  evenings  were   not  less   amusing.     After   the 

1  By  a  will  made  shortly  before  his  death,  the  Due  de  Montmorency,  who  left  no 
children,  had  designated  as  heir  to  the  greater  part  of  his  immense  estates  the  little 
Francois  de  Montmorency-Boutteville,  afterwards  the  celebrated  Marechal  de 
Luxembourg,  the  posthumous  son  of  the  Comte  de  Montmorency-Boutteville, 
executed  for  duelling  in  1627.  But  the  duke's  condemnation  rendered  this  document 
of  no  effect,  and  the  whole  of  his  property  reverted  to  the  Crown.  Louis  XIII., 
however,  contented  himself  with  retaining  possession  of  Chantilly  and  Dammartin, 
for  the  sake  of  the  hunting,  without,  however,  uniting  them  to  his  demesne,  and 
caused  the  rest  of  the  property  to  be  divided  between  the  Princesse  de  Conde  and 
her  two  sisters,  Richelieu,  we  may  presume,  not  being  minded  to  set  up  another  great 
feudal  noble  in  the  place  of  the  deceased  duke. 


LIFE  AT  CHANTILLY  185 

usual  prayers  had  been  read  in  the  chapel,  which  were 
attended  by  every  one,  all  the  ladies  retired  to  the  apart- 
ments of  the  princess,  where  they  played  at  various  games 
and  sang.  There  were  often  fine  voices  and  very  agreeable 
conversations,  stories  of  Court  intrigue  and  gallantry,  which 
made  life  pass  as  pleasantly  as  possible.  .  .  .  Rhymes  and 
riddles  were  composed,  which  occupied  the  time  in  spare  hours. 
Some  were  to  be  seen  walking  on  the  edge  of  the  ponds,  and 
some  in  the  alleys  of  the  park  or  gardens,  on  the  terrace  or  on 
the  lawn,  alone  or  in  parties,  according  to  the  state  of  mind  in 
which  they  were  ;  while  others  sang  airs,  or  recited  verses,  or 
read  romances  on  a  balcony,  or  as  they  walked  or  reposed  on 
the  grass.  Never  was  there  seen  so  beautiful  a  place  in  such  a 
beautiful  season."  l 

Lenet  wrote  of  the  spring  of  1650,  when  the  Princes  (Conde, 
Conti  and  Longueville)  were  in  prison,  and  Madame  de 
Longueville  an  exile,  and  when,  as  he  admits,  the  amusements 
of  the  young  people  were  often  disturbed  by  bad  news.  But 
before  the  Fronde,  which  divided  all  French  society,  Chantilly 
was  an  even  more  delightful  resort.  The  young  Due  d'Enghien 
came  there,  bringing  with  him  many  of  the  young  nobles  who 
had  been  his  friends  at  Benjamin's  Academy,  and  who  were  to 
fight  by  his  side  on  many  a  fiercely-contested  field  ;  the  two 
sons  of  the  Marechal  Due  de  Chatillon,  Maurice,  Comte  de 
Coligny,  and  Gaspard,  Marquis  d'Andelot ;  Guy  de  Laval,  son 
of  the  Marquis  de  Sable  ;  Leon  d'Angennes,  Marquis  de  Pisani  ; 
Louis  and  Charles  Amedee  de  Savoie,  who  successively  bore 
the  title  of  Due  de  Nemours ;  La  Moussaye,  the  hero  of  the 
battle  of  La  Marfce ;  the  two  du  Vigeans,  Nangis,  Tavannes, 
and  others,  amongst  whom  grew  up  a  little  humpbacked  boy, 
who  was  one  day  to  be  known  to  fame  as  the  Marechal  de 
Luxembourg. 

And  there  also  was  Enghien's  lovely  sister,  Anne  Genevieve 
de  Bourbon,  who,  in  1642,  was  to  marry  the  Due  de  Longueville, 
and  with  her  a  bevy  of  young  beauties,  light-hearted,  laughter- 
loving  damsels,  bandying  jests  with  the  wits,  rallying  the  more 
1  Lenet,  "  Memoires." 


1 86       THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   CONDES 

serious,  and  exercising,  under  the  indulgent  eyes  of  Madame  la 
Princesse,  their  precocious  coquetry  upon  the  Due  d'Enghien 
and  his  comrades.  Among  them  may  be  mentioned  Marie 
Antoinette  de  Brienne,  daughter  of  the  Minister  of  that  name, 
afterwards  the  Marquise  de  Gamaches ;  the  two  sisters  of  the 
future  Marechal  de  Luxembourg,  Marie  Louise  and  Isabelle 
de  Boutteville ;  the  celebrated  Julie  d'Angennes,  afterwards 
Duchesse  de  Montausier;  and  Anne  and  Marthe  du  Vigean, 
the  former  of  whom  married  the  Marquis  de  Pons,  and 
en  secondes  noces  the  young  Due  de  Richelieu,  the  Cardinal's 
heir. 

Of  these  nymphs,  two — Isabelle  de  Boutteville  and  Marthe 
du  Vigean — were  destined  to  figure  very  prominently  in  the  life 
of  the  Great  Conde.  They  presented  a  singular  contrast. 
Isabelle  de  Boutteville,  who,  under  the  name  of  the  Duchesse  de 
Chatillon,  was  to  achieve  celebrity  as  the  most  finished  coquette 
of  her  time,  was  an  imperious  young  beauty,  who  already 
appreciated  to  the  full  the  power  of  her  own  attractions. 
Insatiable  for  admiration,  she  disdained  no  conquests,  en- 
couraging and  rebuffing  by  turns  the  troop  of  adorers  who 
gathered  about  her,  and  rehearsing  thus  early  with  the  Due 
d'Enghien  and  the  younger  of  the  two  boys  who  were  to  bear 
the  title  of  Due  de  Nemours  the  part  she  was  one  day  to  play 
with  them  on  another  stage.  None  of  the  young  beauties  of 
Chantilly,  with  the  exception  of  Mile,  de  Bourbon,  inspired  the 
poets  who  foregathered  there  to  celebrate  their  charms  and 
deplore  their  coldness  more  often  than  she.  Among  a  multitude 
of  verses  of  more  or  less  merit,  composed  in  her  honour,  may  be 
mentioned  those  of  the  poet  Charpy,  wherein  he  draws  an 
ingenious  comparison  between  the  destruction  wrought  by  the 
sword  of  his  father,  the  notorious  duellist,  and  the  havoc  created 
by  the  beaux yenx  of  Isabelle  : 

"  Quand  jc  vois  de  rapport  de  votre  pere  a  vous, 
Divinitc  mortelle,  adorable  Sylvie  ! 
II  tenait  dans  ses  mains  et  la  niort  et  la  vie  : 
Vos  ycux  se  sont  acquis  les  memes  sur  nous." 

Marthe  du  Vigean  was  a  very  different  kind  of  girl.     Modest 


ENGHIEN  AND  MARTHE   DU  VIGEAN       187 

and  gentle,  she  hardly  seemed  to  be  aware  of  the  admiration 
which  she  aroused : 

"  Sans  savoir  ce  que  c'est  qu'amour 
Ses  beaux  yeux  le  mettent  au  jour, 
Et  partout  elle  le  fait  naitre 
Sans  le  connoitre," 

wrote  Voiture.  Unfortunately,  no  portrait  of  her,  either  painted 
or  engraved,  has  been  preserved,  nor  have  we  any  detailed 
description  of  her  among  the  writings  of  her  contemporaries 
which  can  supply  its  place.  But  her  beauty  would  appear  to 
have  been  of  a  peculiarly  appealing  type,  the  reflection  of  a 
character  gentle,  pure  and  unselfish. 

In  love,  it  is  said,  people  are  most  frequently  attracted  by 
those  who  least  resemble  them.  However  that  may  be,  the 
haughty,  vain,  egotistical  yoHng  Due  d'Enghien,  for  a  moment 
subjugated  by  the  more  dazzling  charms  of  Isabelle  de  Boutte- 
ville,  to  whose  yoke  he  will  return  in  years  to  come,  speedily 
transferred  his  affections  to  this  gentle,  retiring  maiden,  for  whom 
he  conceived  the  one  great  and  pure  passion  of  his  stormy  life. 
The  girl  reciprocated  his  affections,  and  loved  him  with  an 
intensity  of  devotion  which  never  wavered  for  a  moment  to  her 
life's  end.  To  her,  this  young  prince,  with  his  eagle  glance  and 
his  fiery  courage,  was  a  veritable  hero  of  romance,  a  seventeenth- 
century  Bayard,  "  sans  peur  et  sans  reproche" 

Although  not  in  the  first  rank  of  the  French  nobility,  the 
Du  Vigeans  were  high  in  favour  at  Court,  and  Madame  du 
Vigean  was  one  of  Madame  la  Princesses  most  intimate  friends. 
She  was  very  rich  and  gave  magnificent  fetes  at  her  country- 
seat  of  La  Barre,  and  Marthe  was  a  considerable  heiress.  In 
ordinary  circumstances,  therefore,  the  Due  d'Enghien  might 
not  have  despaired  of  obtaining  his  father's  and  the  King's — 
that  is  to  say,  Richelieu's — consent  to  the  match,  for  the  princes 
of  the  House  of  Bourbon  had  often  sought  their  wives  among 
the  daughters  of  noble  and  wealthy  French  families.  But, 
unhappily  for  the  lovers,  Monsieur  le  Prince  had  other  views  for 
his  son,  and  had  long  since  selected  a  wife  for  him. 

Among  the  courtiers  who  so  eagerly  sought  the  favour  of 


188       THE  LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE  COND&S 

Richelieu  no  one  was  more  obsequious  than  the  Prince  de 
Conde,  who  had  not  only  willingly  consented,  contrary  to  all 
ancient  usage,  that  the  Princes  of  the  Blood  should  yield 
precedence  to  cardinals,  but  had  even,  it  is  asserted,  carried  his 
servility  to  such  a  point  as  to  raise  the  tapestry  and  hold  it 
when  the  all-powerful  Minister  passed  through  a  door.  Omni- 
potent though  Richelieu  was,  he  could  hardly  have  flattered 
himself  with  the  hope  of  an  alliance  with  the  Princes  of  the 
Blood  ;  and  it  must  therefore  have  been  with  feelings  of  astonish- 
ment and  contempt  mingling  with  gratification  that  "  he  beheld 
M.  de  Conde  ask  of  him  almost  on  his  knees  the  hand  of  his 
niece,  and  plead  for  this  object  as  eagerly  as  though  he  had  in 
view  for  his  son  the  sovereignty  of  the  world."  * 

The  niece  in  question  was  Claire-Clemence  de  Maille-Breze, 
daughter  of  the  Marechal  Due  de  Breze,  who  had  married 
"solely  for  her  beauty,"  as  he  was  never  tired  of  reminding 
the  Cardinal,  Richelieu's  pretty  but  eccentric  sister,  Nicole  du 
Plessis.  Born  on  28  February,  1628,  Claire-Clemence's  infancy 
was  passed  with  her  parents  at  the  Chateau  of  Milly,  in 
Anjou.  But  when  the  unfortunate  Nicole's  eccentricity  turned 
to  madness,2  and  the  marshal  began  to  console  himself  openly 
with  the  widow  of  one  of  his  valets  de  chambre,  the  Cardinal 
decided  that  it  was  time  to  remove  his  niece  ;  and,  in  1633,  took 
advantage  of  an  epidemic  which  was  then  ravaging  Anjou  to 
send  her  to  the  Chateau  des  Caves,  near  Nogent-sur-Seine,  to 
the  Bouthilliers,  whose  fortune  he  had  made,  and  who  were 
entirely  devoted  to  him. 

It  is  probable  that  Richelieu  would  not  have  shown  himself 
so  solicitous  for  the  welfare  of  the  little  girl  had  he  not  already 
foreseen  that  she  would  become  an  instrument  of  his  policy. 
In  point  of  fact,  most  flattering  proposals  for  her  hand  had 
already  been  made  him.  The  first  was  from  the  Due  de  la 
Tr£moille,  on  behalf  of  his  eldest  son,  afterwards  the  Prince  de 

1  Mile,  de  Montpensier,  "  Memoires." 

2  According  to  Tallemant  des  Reaux,  at  one  time,  the  poor  woman  imagined  that 
she  was  made  of  glass,  and  never  sat  down  except  with  infinite  precautions  ;  at 
another,  she  thought  that  her  hands  and  feet  had  turned  to  ice,  and  was  continually 
warming  them,  even  in  the  hottest  weather. 


ENGHIEN  BETROTHED  TO  MLLE.   DE  BR&ZE     189 

Tarente;  and  the  Cardinal  appears  to  have  been  on  the  point 
of  returning  a  favourable  answer,  when  the  Prince  de  Conde 
intervened  and  solicited  the  hand  of  this  child  of  four  for  the 
Due  d'Enghien,  then  twelve  years  of  age. 

So  anxious  was  Monsieur  le  Prince  to  be  reconciled  with 
the  Minister  whom  he  had  failed  to  conquer,  and  to  convert  his 
former  adversary  into  a  complaisant  ally — or  rather  a  beneficent 
patron,  that  he  had  already  taken  the  precaution  to  assure 
himself  of  the  consent  of  Louis  XIII.  The  Cardinal,  on  his 
side,  who  saw  in  this  union  the  most  dazzling  proof  of  his 
influence  an  d  of  the  triumph  of  his  policy,  received  his  High- 
ness's  overtures  very  graciously,  and,  early  in  1633,  gave  him 
the  promise  he  desired. 

The  joy  of  Monsieur  le  Prince  was  such  that  Richelieu  had 
all  the  difficulty  in  the  world  to  prevent  him  from  confirming 
the  rumours  of  the  Court  and  publicly  announcing  his  good 
fortune  ;  but  the  Cardinal  insisted  that  it  should  remain  a  secret 
between  them  until  :the  bride-elect  had  reached  a  marriageable 
age,  and,  very  reluctantly,  the  other  consented.  As  for  the 
Marechal  de  Breze,  Richelieu  did  not  even  think  it  worth  while 
to  mention  the  arrangement  to  him,  deeming  that  the  right  of 
disposing  of  his  niece's  hand  belonged  to  himself  alone. 

Thus  matters  remained  until  the  end  of  the  year  1640,  when 
Conde,  having  gone  through  the  form  of  obtaining  the  consent 
of  the  Marechal  de  Breze,  acquainted  his  son  with  the  honour  in 
store  for  him.  The  Due  d'Enghien,  as  might  be  supposed,  pro- 
tested strongly  against  the  sacrifice  that  was  demanded  of  him, 
but  Monsieur  le  Prince,  always  terribly  in  earnest  when  it  was 
a  question  of  pleasing  those  in  power,  was  inexorable  ;  and 
eventually  the  duke  gave  a  reluctant  consent,  somewhat  con- 
soled by  the  reflection  that,  as  the  Cardinal's  nephew  by 
marriage,  advancement  in  his  profession  must  be  both  sure  and 
speedy. 

Under  date  11  February,  1640,  we  find  Condd  writing  to 
Richelieu  from  Dijon  : 

"  My  son,  who  burns  with  the  same  desire  as  myself  to  be 
allied  to  you,  will  write  to  you  on  the  instant,  and  will  set  out 


190       THE  LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE  COND&S 

with  me  to-morrow  for  Paris,  to  offer  his  services  to  his  mistress. 
I  have  spoken  to  him  about  it,  and  have  received  from  him  not 
only  the  proofs  of  the  obedience  that  he  owes  me,  but  also 
those  of  very  great  joy  on  this  subject." * 

The  Duchesse  d'Aiguillon,  the  Cardinal's  beloved  niece, 
conducted  Mile,  de  Breze  to  Paris,  where  the  Due  d'Enghien 
and  his  father  arrived  shortly  afterwards.  The  young  duke 
was  "  presented  to  his  mistress,"  as  was  said  then,  and  autho- 
rized to  visit  and  to  write  to  her,  while  awaiting  their  marriage, 
which,  much  to  the  disappointment  of  Monsieur  le  Prince, 
Richelieu  had  decided  to  postpone  until  the  following  year,  on 
account  of  the  extreme  youthfulness  of  the  bride-elect. 

The  Prince  de  Conde  overwhelmed  Claire-  Clemence  with 
attentions  and  declared  that  he  was  all  impatience  to  call  her 
his  daughter-in-law.  On  presenting  het  fiance"  to  her,  he  assured 
her  "it  would  never  be  possible  for  her  to  espouse  a  person 
who  would  show  her  more  respect  or  more  affection  ;  "  and  when 
Enghien  was  about  to  take  the  armchair  that  was  offered  him, 
he  stopped  him,  saying  sharply :  "  That  is  not  the  place  for  a 
serviteur  ;  go  and  sit  down  on  a  little  placet  with  your  mistress." 2 

Nothing  less  than  the  paternal  exhortations  were  required 
to  persuade  the  young  duke  to  pay  his  court  to  his  betrothed, 
and,  in  point  of  fact,  he  limited  his  visits  to  those  which  the 
exigencies  of  etiquette  required.  Claire-Clemence  was  "far 
from  plain ;  she  had  beautiful  eyes,  a  fine  complexion,  and  a 
pretty  figure." 3  But  she  was  barely  twelve  years  old,  and 
very  small  even  for  her  years,  and,  besides,  so  childish  in  her 
ways  that  la  Gratide  Mademoiselle  declares  that  two  years  after 
her  marriage  she  still  amused  herself  with  dolls.  Very  young 
men  are  more  often  attracted  by  ripe  than  by  immature  charms, 
and  it  was  therefore  scarcely  to  be  expected  that  Enghien  should 
have  shown  any  inclination  for  the  society  of  his  betrothed — 
even  if  his  affections  had  not  been  already  engaged  elsewhere. 

1  Due  d'Aumale,  "  Histoire  des  Princes  de  Conde." 

2  Letter  of  Henri  Arnauld  to  Barillon,  April  II,  1640,  cited  by  Romberg  and 
Jousselin,  "la  Femme  du  Grand  Conde." 

3  Mademoiselle  de  Montpensier,  "  Memoires." 


FIRST  CAMPAIGN   OF  THE   GREAT   CONDE     191 

Little  time,  however,  was  given  the  young  people  for 
becoming  better  acquainted  with  one  another,  as  other  matters 
than  courtship  and  marriage  were  demanding  Enghien's  atten- 
tion. Since  1635  war  had  been  declared  against  Spain,  and 
France  had  come  openly  into  that  field  in  which  her  secret 
influence  had  long  been  exercised.  The  clash  of  arms  which 
resounded  throughout  Europe  had  strongly  affected  the  young 
prince,  and  he  had  long  sighed  for  an  opportunity  of  displaying 
his  courage.  So  early  as  1636  he  had  written  to  his  father  : 
"  I  read  with  pleasure  the  heroic  actions  of  our  kings  in 
history.  ...  I  feel  a  holy  ambition  to  imitate  them  and  follow 
in  their  track,  when  my  age  and  capabilities  shall  have  made 
me  what  you  wish." *  Conde,  however,  thinking  that  his  son's 
strength  was  not  yet  equal  to  the  hardships  of  active  service, 
had  hitherto  refused  to  gratify  his  ambition ;  but,  in  the  spring 
of  1640,  he  at  length  gave  his  consent,  and,  at  the  end  of  April, 
the  lad  set  out  for  Picardy  to  make  his  first  campaign  with  the 
army  operating  against  the  Spaniards  on  the  North-Eastern 
frontier.  He  was  greatly  disappointed  that  he  was  not  to 
receive  his  baptism  of  fire  under  the  eyes  of  his  father,  who 
commanded  the  French  forces  in  Roussillon.  But  Richelieu 
had  chosen  the  Army  of  Picardy,  because  its  commander,  the 
Mar£chal  de  la  Meilleraie,  was  the  sworn  enemy  of  Monsieur  le 
Prince,  and  might,  consequently,  be  trusted  neither  to  allow  the 
young  soldier  to  shirk  his  duties  nor  to  exaggerate  his  services 
To  mitigate  his  disappointment,  the  Cardinal  overwhelmed  his 
future  nephew  with  compliments,  and  presented  him  with  two 
splendid  chargers. 

This  first  campaign  of  the  Great  Conde  was  short  and  easy, 
terminating  on  9  August  with  the  taking  of  Arras.  The  young 
soldier  earned  golden  opinions  from  all  his  superiors  by  the 
promptitude  and  intelligence  with  which  he  executed  everything 
entrusted  to  him,  and  gave  abundant  proofs  of  the  courage  for 
which  he  was  soon  to  become  so  celebrated  in  a  cavalry  skirmish 
before  the  beleaguered  town. 

The  campaign  over,  the  duke,  by  his  father's  instructions, 

1  Earl  Stanhope,  "  Life  of  Louis,  Prince  de  Conde,  surnamcd  the  Great." 


192       THE  LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE  CONDES 

returned  to  Dijon  without  passing  through  Paris,  to  the  great 
chagrin  of  his  sister  and  her  friends,  who  were  naturally  anxious 
to  celebrate  his  exploits.  But  Monsieur  le  Prince,  like  a  prudent 
father,  had  decided  that,  until  his  son  was  safely  married,  it 
would  be  as  well  for  him  to  shun  the  society  of  those  danger- 
ously fascinating  damsels,  and  of  one  of  them  in  particular.  The 
Cardinal,  unaware  that  Enghien  had  been  merely  following  the 
paternal  orders,  saw  in  this  avoidance  of  Paris  a  confirmation  of 
the  persistent  rumour  that  was  going  about  the  Court  that  the 
young  prince  "had  no  taste  for  his  fiance'e?  In  high  indignation, 
he  despatched  Chavigny  to  Dijon,  to  invite  him  to  explain  his 
conduct  and  to  say  candidly  whether  or  no  he  desired  the 
alliance  which  his  father  had  solicited  for  him.  There  can  be 
very  little  doubt  what  answer  Enghien  would  have  returned  had 
circumstances  permitted  him  to  express  his  real  sentiments  ; 
but,  with  the  fear  of  both  the  Cardinal  and  Monsieur  le 
Prince  before  his  eyes,  he  indignantly  denied  the  truth  of 
the  report  that  was  in  circulation,  and  begged  Chavigny  to 
assure  his  Eminence  that  his  heart  was  entirely  set  upon  the 
marriage. 

<c  I  feel  myself  obliged  to  inform  you,"  he  writes  to  his 
father,  "  that  M.  de  Chavigny  came  yesterday  to  see  me  and 
told  me  that  he  had  something  of  importance  to  say  to  me.  It  is 
that  a  gentleman  had  told  him  that  a  rumour  ran  that  I  had  no 
inclination  for  Mile,  de  Br6z6  ;  that  I  regarded  this  marriage 
with  aversion,  and  that  people  remarked  that  my  countenance 
was  very  melancholy,  and,  finally,  that  he  begged  me  to  be  on 
my  guard.  I  replied  that  the  person  who  had  told  him  this  was 
a  wicked  man,  as  were  those  who  circulated  these  false  reports  : 
that  I  looked  upon  this  marriage  as  a  great  honour  and  favour ; 
that  it  was  the  thing  in  the  world  that  you  and  I  desired  the 
most,  and  that  all  those  who  spread  these  reports  were  his 
enemies  and  mine,  and  that,  far  from  being  melancholy,  I  had 
never  been  so  gay."  * 

Notwithstanding  these  indignant  protestations,  the  Cardinal, 
who,  while  naturally  very  anxious  for  a  marriage  which  would 

1  "  Archives  de  Chantilly,"  cited  by  the  Due  d'Aumale. 


FETE  AT  THE   PALAIS-CARDINAL  193 

connect  him  with  the  Royal  House  itself  and  serve  to  consoli- 
date his  power,  was  anxious  also  to  assure  the  happiness  of  his 
niece,  was  still  somewhat  uneasy.  In  consequence,  he  showed 
himself  a  trifle  cold  when  the  marriage  was  mentioned,  to  the 
profound  alarm  of  Monsieur  le  Prince,  who  redoubled  his  atten- 
tions both  to  his  Eminence  and  his  niece,  and  was  as  impatient 
for  the  conclusion  of  the  affair  "  as  if  his  son  were  about  to 
espouse  the  queen  of  all  the  world." 

The  marriage  was  finally  fixed  for  n  February,  1641. 
Early  in  January,  the  Due  d'Enghien  arrived  in  Paris  with  his 
father,  who  accompanied  him  everywhere  he  went,  apparently 
from  fear  lest  he  should  fail  to  manifest  sufficient  enthusiasm 
for  the  fate  in  store  for  him.  Mile,  de  Breze  had  already 
arrived  and  was  lodged  at  the  Hotel  d'Aiguillon,  in  charge  of 
Madame  Bouthillier ;  and,  on  14  January,  Richelieu  gave  a 
magnificent  fete  in  honour  of  the  young  couple  at  the  Palais- 
Cardinal.  The  principal  attraction  of  this  entertainment  was 
the  representation  of  "  Mirame,"  a  "  tragi-comedie "  which  his 
Eminence  had  written  in  collaboration  with  Desmarets. 
Richelieu  had  spared  no  expense  to  give  his  work — which  was 
probably  neither  better  nor  worse  than  the  mediocre  pieces  of 
the  time — a  setting  in  every  way  worthy  of  it.  The  theatre, 
constructed  expressly  for  it,  had  cost  200,000  £cus  ;  the  scenery 
had  been  brought  from  Italy,  and  the  costumes  had  been 
designed  by  the  Cardinal  himself.  All  the  effective  passages  in 
the  play  were  rapturously  applauded  by  the  spectators,  which 
is  scarcely  surprising,  since  the  celebrated  author,  carried  away 
by  admiration  for  his  own  genius,  invariably  gave  them  the 
signal  ;  and  if  the  fall  of  the  curtain  did  not  leave  his  Eminence 
under  the  pleasing  illusion  that  he  was  not  only  a  great  states- 
man, but  a  great  poet  as  well,  it  was  certainly  not  the  fault  of  his 
guests. 

The  play  was  followed  by  a  grand  ball,  in  which  the  little 
Mile,  de  Br£ze  appeared  in  a  marvellous  toilette  and  decorated 
with  a  part  of  the  Queen's  jewels,  which  her  Majesty  had  lent 
her  for  the  occasion.  Monsieur  le  Prince,  who,  with  some  of  his 
intimates,  watched  the  scene  from  the  gallery,  pretended  to  be  in 
o 


194       THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   CONDfiS 

raptures  of  admiration,  and  every  time  that  his  future  daughter- 
in-law  danced,  kept  repeating  :  "  Ah  !  how  pretty  she  is !  Ah  ! 
how  pretty  she  is  ! "  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  report  of  these 
praises  served  to  console  their  object  for  a  trifling  but  ludicrous 
mishap  of  which  she  was  the  victim,  and  which  must  have 
occasioned  her  profound  mortification. 

She  had  come  to  the  fete  furnished  with  a  pair  of  enormously 
high-heeled  shoes,  which  she  had  been  made  to  don  in  order  to 
increase  her  stature,  which,  as  we  have  said,  was  very  short, 
even  for  her  years.  It  was  only  with  the  greatest  difficulty  that 
she  was  able  to  preserve  her  equilibrium,  and,  while  dancing  a 
courante,  she  slipped  and  fell  sprawling  on  the  floor.  La  Grande 
Mademoiselle,  who  recounts  this  misadventure,  declares  that 
"  no  considerations  of  respect  could  hinder  all  the  company 
from  giving  vent  to  their  merriment,  not  even  excepting  the 
Due  d'Enghien."  1 

On  7  February,  the  marriage-contract  was  signed  in  the 
King's  cabinet  at  the  Louvre,  as  was  the  custom  when  Princes 
of  the  Blood  were  wed.  The  Prince  and  Princesse  de  Conde 
promised  the  young  couple  settlements  to  the  value  of  80,000 
livres  a  year  and  an  annual  pension  of  40,000  livres.  His 
Eminence  gave  his  niece  the  seigneuries  of  Ansae,  Moy,  Cam- 
bronne,  and  Plessis-Billebault,  together  with  the  sum  of  300,000 
livres,  but  under  the  express  condition  that  she  should  renounce 
all  claim  to  the  rest  of  his  property  in  the  event  of  his  death. 

"  It  was  impossible,"  observe  Claire-CIemence's  biographers, 
MM.  Homberg  and  Jousselin,  "to  manifest  more  clearly,  in  the 
eyes  of  all,  that  the  niece  of  Richelieu  had  been  sought  by  the 
House  of  Conde,  less  for  wealth,  which  was  by  no  means  out  of 
the  ordinary,  than  for  the  advantages  of  a  connexion  with  him 
whom  the  courtiers  called  "  the  All-powerful."  2 

The  stipulation  regarding  Richelieu's  property  greatly  dis- 
gusted Monsieur  le  Prince,  who  was  as  greedy  as  he  was  ambi- 
tious ;  and,  though  he  had  not  ventured  to  contest  the  matter 
with  the  Cardinal,  he  made,  together  with  his  son,  a  formal 

1  Mademoiselle  de  Montpensier,  "Memoires." 

2  "  La  Femme  du  Grand  Conde." 


MARRIAGE   OF  ENGHIEN  195 

protest,  in  the  presence  of  a  notary,  against  the  renunciation 
exacted  by  his  Eminence. 

After  the  signing  of  the  contract,  Richelieu  gave  a  magni- 
ficent ballet  at  the  Palais-Cardinal,  entitled  "  La  Prosperite  des 
armes  de  France."  This  ballet,  we  are  told,  delighted  every  one 
save  the  King,  who  appeared  to  be  displeased  at  the  sight  of 
the  Due  d'Enghien  descending  from  heaven,  surrounded  by 
dazzling  sunbeams,  to  make  his  entry. 

On  1 1  February,  the  marriage  was  celebrated  in  the  chapel 
of  Palais-Cardinal,  by  the  Archbishop  of  Paris.  After  the  cere- 
mony, the  bridal  pair  and  their  relatives  were  entertained  to  a 
sumptuous  banquet,  and  in  the  evening  a  play,  followed  by  a 
supper,  was  given  by  Richelieu  at  the  Palais-Cardinal.  "  Never 
had  his  Eminence  been  seen  in  a  better  temper," *  writes  a  wit- 
ness of  the  marriage  fetes,  on  which  the  Cardinal  is  said  to  have 
expended  upwards  of  a  million  livres.  Supper  over,  the  com- 
pany adjourned  to  the  Hotel  de  Conde\  to  put  the  bridal  pair  to 
bed,  according  to  custom. 

1  Letter  of  Henri  Arnauld  to  the  President  Barillon,  cited  by  MM,  Homberg  and 
Jousselin,  "la  Femmedu  Grand  Conde." 


CHAPTER  XIV 

Serious  illness  of  the  Due  d'Enghien — Tyranny  exercised  over  him  by 
Richelieu— An  amusing  anecdote — Death  of  the  Cardinal — His  will — Law- 
suit between  the  Prince  de  Conde  and  the  Duchesse  d'Aiguillon — Enghien 
contemplates  the  dissolution  of  his  marriage,  neglects  his  wife,  and  devotes 
himself  to  Marthe  du  Vigean — He  receives  the  command  of  the  Army  of 
Flanders,  gains  the  brilliant  victory  of  Rocroi,  and  takes  Thionville — The 
Duchesse  d'Enghien  gives  birth  to  a  son — Indifference  of  the  duke — He 
returns  to  Paris  and  endeavours  to  procure  the  dissolution  of  his  marriage — 
But  this  project  is  frustrated  by  the  interference  of  the  Prince  de  Conde — 
Enghien  is  wounded  at  the  battle  of  Nordlingen,  and  has  a  dangerous  attack 
of  fever — To  the  astonishment  of  his  friends,  he  suddenly  breaks  off  his 
tender  relations  with  Mile,  du  Vigean — Despair  of  the  lady,  who,  in  spite  of 
the  opposition  of  her  family,  enters  the  Carmelites  of  the  Faubourg  Saint- 
Jacques. 


A 


FEW  days  after  his  marriage,  the  Due  d'Enghien 
fell  dangerously  ill,  an  event  which  was  attributed  by 
the  Court  to  his  despair  at  having  been  forced  into 
an  alliance  so  distasteful  to  him.  Certainly,  he  behaved  like  a 
man  who  had  little  desire  to  live,  and  it  was  only  with  great 
difficulty  that  he  could  be  persuaded  to  see  the  doctors  whom 
Monsieur  le  Prince  called  in.  At  one  time,  his  condition  was  so 
serious  that  hope  was  almost  abandoned,  but  these  appre- 
hensions were  fortunately  unfounded,  and  in  six  weeks  he  was 
convalescent.  His  spirits,  however,  did  not  return  with  his 
strength,  and  he  remained  for  some  time  in  a  state  of  profound 
melancholy,  refusing  to  go  into  Society,  or  to  receive  his  friends, 
and  spending  "  the  entire  day  and  a  part  of  the  night "  reading 
romances.  At  length,  he  succeeded  in  shaking  off  his  lethargy, 
and  on  13  May  celebrated  his  return  to  health  by  giving  a  grand 
fete  at  Charonne  to  his  sister  and  her  fair  friends,  including, 
needless  to  say,  Mile,  du  Vigean. 

196 


RICHELIEU'S  TREATMENT   OF  ENGHIEN     197 

The  Cardinal,  already  irritated  by  the  coldness  with  which 
Enghien  had  from  the  first  treated  his  child-wife,  in  spite  of  the 
affection  which  she  lavished  upon  him,  was  much  displeased  on 
learning  of  this  entertainment,  for,  in  his  opinion,  no  society 
was  more  calculated  to  wean  his  nephew  from  the  domestic 
hearth  than  that  of  these  charming  young  ladies.  He  had 
another,  and  more  serious  cause  for  resentment  against  the 
young  prince,  in  the  fate  which  had  befallen  one  Maigrin,  a 
creature  of  his  own,  whom  Conde,  at  his  suggestion,  had 
appointed  comptroller  of  his  son's  Household.  Incensed  by  the 
surveillance  which  he  suspected  Maigrin  of  exercising  over  his 
actions,  Enghien  had  inveighed  against  him  in  such  violent 
terms  before  some  of  his  confidential  servants,  that  two  of  them, 
with  the  idea  of  pleasing  their  master,  picked  a  quarrel  with  the 
unfortunate  comptroller,  and  wounded  him  so  severely  that  he 
died  a  few  hours  later. 

The  Cardinal,  furious  at  the  death  of  his  prote'ge,  wrote  a 
very  angry  letter  to  the  Prince  de  Conde,  complaining  bitterly 
of  "the  disorders  and  the  want  of  dignity  in  M.  d'Enghien's 
Household,"  and  demanding  that  "  his  conduct  should  be  aided 
and  guided  by  a  single  mind."  The  obsequious  prince  hastened 
to  reply  :  "  He  is  your  creature :  do  with  him  what  you  will." 
And  the  luckless  Enghien  found  that  he  had  escaped  from  the 
paternal  control  only  to  fall  under  the  tyranny  of  Richelieu, 
who  reorganized  his  Household,  which  he  filled  with  persons 
devoted  to  his  own  interests,  fixed  the  number  of  days  which  he 
was  to  spend  in  any  one  place,  and  regulated  everything  which 
concerned  him  down  to  the  smallest  details.  No  wonder  that 
the  young  duke  was  glad  when  the  time  arrived  for  him  to 
rejoin  the  army  of  Picardy,  with  which  he  took  part  in  the  sieges 
of  Aire,  La  Bassee,  and  Bapaume  ! 

Although  Enghien's  manner  towards  his  wife  continued  very 
cold,  in  other  respects  his  conduct,  during  the  remainder  of  the 
Cardinal's  life,  gave  his  Eminence  little  cause  for  complaint. 
On  one  occasion  only  does  he  appear  to  have  offended  the  great 
man,  when,  thanks  to  the  diplomacy  of  Monsieur  le  Prince,  he 
was  enabled  to  make  atonement.     This  was  in  the  autumn  of 


198       THE  LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   COND&S 

1642,  when,  on  his  return  from  the  campaign  of  Roussillon,  he 
was  so  ill-advised  as  to  pass  by  Lyons  without  visiting  the 
Cardinal  Alphonse  de  Richelieu,  Archbishop  of  Lyons,  and 
brother  of  the  Minister.  At  the  first  interview  which  he  had 
with  the  latter  on  his  arrival  in  Paris,  the  Cardinal  inquired 
after  the  health  of  his  brother,  and  it  became  necessary  to 
acknowledge  that  he  had  not  been  visited.  The  Cardinal  made 
no  remark,  but,  when  the  prince  had  departed,  he  gave  full  vent 
to  his  feelings,  and  vowed  that  he  would  make  him  regret  the 
slight  he  had  offered  him.  The  Prince  de  Conde,  informed  of 
what  had  occurred,  was  terribly  alarmed,  and  hastened  to 
intercede  for  his  son  with  the  angry  Minister,  promising  that  he 
should  make  the  fullest  atonement ;  and  when  Enghien  joined 
him  at  Dijon,  he  ordered  him  to  return  immediately  to  Lyons, 
and  repair  his  fault.  And  so  the  delinquent  found  himself 
obliged  to  make  a  long  journey  in  very  bad  weather,  not  to 
Lyons,  but  to  Orange,  whither  the  Cardinal  Alphonse  had  gone, 
on  purpose,  it  was  said,  to  give  the  prince  the  trouble  of  going 
further  in  search  of  him. 

A  few  weeks  later  (4  December,  1642),  Richelieu  succumbed 
to  the  one  enemy  whom  he  was  unable  to  subjugate,  in  full 
possession  of  all  the  power  and  splendour  for  which  he  had 
laboured  so  unceasingly.  Save  to  his  family  and  his  immediate 
followers,  his  death  brought  little  regret,  for  all  classes  had  felt 
his  iron  hand ;  and  Enghien,  who,  since  his  marriage,  had  been 
subjected  to  such  galling  restraints,  must  have  felt  very  much 
like  a  boy  emancipated  from  the  control  of  some  stern  and 
unbending  preceptor.  Now,  at  last,  he  was  free  to  order  his  life 
as  he  pleased,  to  follow  his  taste  for  pleasure,  and  to  indulge  his 
passion  for  Mile,  du  Vigean. 

When  the  will  which  the  Cardinal  had  executed  some 
months  before  at  Narbonne  was  opened,  it  was  found  that  the 
Duchesse  d'Enghien's  brother,  Armand  de  Maille-Breze,  had 
been  left  the  duchies  of  Fronsac  and  Caumont,  but  that  the 
duchess's  hopes — or  rather  the  Condes' — were  extinguished  by 
the  following  clause  : 

"  I  make  no  mention  in  this  will  of  my  niece,  the  Duchesse 


7/V.v  -  hatilts  2c  Tres  puissante  prince sse  Cl^AIRE 

(7,7,/.v;,L'.    d'    Afatl/e  rcntmc  Jr     \ton(ciqneur     Louis    J. 


:■-   ill,   ti-sr  humfrk  i*-r,„t:;,rM;,,.-:r, 


CLAIRE   CLKMENCE    I)E    MAILLK-KKKZK,   PR]  NCKSSK    I)K  C'ONDK 

KKil.M    AS    KNGRAV1NG    IIV    MONCORNKT 


A  THIRTY  YEARS'   LAWSUIT  199 

d'Enghien,  inasmuch  as,  by  her  marriage-contract,  she  has 
renounced  her  claim  to  my  property,  in  consideration  of  the 
dowry  I  have  bestowed  upon  her,  and  with  which  I  desire  her 
to  be  content." 

Great  was  the  indignation  of  the  haughty  and  greedy  family 
into  which  poor  little  Claire-Clemence  had  entered  on  discover- 
ing that  the  Cardinal  had  strictly  adhered  to  the  conditions 
which  he  had  imposed  at  the  time  of  her  marriage ;  and  the 
Prince  de  Conde  lost  no  time  in  embarking  on  a  lawsuit  against 
the  Duchesse  d'Aiguillon,  in  whose  presence  the  will  had  been 
drawn  up,  and  who  had  benefited  largely  under  it,  while  her 
nephew,  Armand  de  Vignerot,  was  the  principal  legatee.  He 
pretended  that  the  will  had  been  dictated  by  the  duchess  and 
executed  by  the  Cardinal  under  the  influence  of  an  incestuous 
passion,  and  ought,  therefore,  to  be  declared  void ;  and  counsel 
on  both  sides  fairly  surpassed  themselves  in  the  violence  of 
their  harangues.  A  first  decision  of  the  Court  condemned  the 
Duchesse  d'Aiguillon  to  restore  400,000  livres ;  but  there  were 
so  many  points  to  be  debated,  and  the  gentlemen  of  the  long 
robe  found  the  business  so  very  profitable,  that  it  was  not  until 
the  case  had  dragged  its  weary  length  along  for  more  than 
thirty  years,  and  Monsieur  le  Prince  had  been  more  than  a 
quarter  of  a  century  in  his  grave,  that  the  parties,  weary  of  the 
interminable  litigation,  arrived  at  a  settlement  (May,  1674). 

The  Due  d'Enghien,  if  he  eventually  showed  himself  willing 
enough  to  profit  by  it,  did  not  at  first  take  any  part  in  this 
scandalous  lawsuit,  and  it  was  his  father  who  directed  all  the 
proceedings.  His  abstention  was  probably  due  to  the  fact  that 
now  that  the  "  All-powerful  "  was  no  more,  he  was  seriously 
contemplating  an  attempt  to  get  his  marriage  dissolved,  on  the 
ground  that  his  consent  had  been  obtained  by  force  while  he 
was  still  only  a  boy,  after  which  he  intended  to  marry  Marthe 
du  Vigean,  and,  in  view  of  this,  he  felt  that  it  would  be  as  well 
for  him  not  to  appear  in  the  case.  While  awaiting  a  favourable 
opportunity  for  getting  rid  of  the  matrimonial  fetters,  he 
neglected  his  poor  little  wife  entirely,  notwithstanding  that  she 
was  now  enceinte,  and  paid  such  assiduous  attentions  to  the 


200       THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   COND&S 

lady  of  his  heart  that  they  were  soon  the  talk  of  the  Court. 
Learning  that  the  Marechal  de  Guiche  was  about  to  demand 
Mile,  du  Vigean's  hand  for  his  son,  the  Marquis  de  Saint- 
Mesgrin,  great-nephew  of  Henri  III.'s  migno?i,  he  hastened  to 
put  a  stop  to  this  project,  and  showed  himself  so  violently 
jealous  of  all  the  damsel's  admirers  that  they  scarcely  dared  to 
approach  her. 

As  for  the  duchess,  she  attempted  no  remonstrance,  but  went 
into  retreat  at  the  Carmelite  convent  in  the  Faubourg  Saint- 
Jacques,  where  she  remained  until  the  departure  of  her  husband 
for  the  wars. 

Enghien  had  just  received  the  command  of  the  Army  of 
Flanders,  which  had  been  promised  him  by  Richelieu,  in 
recognition  of  his  fidelity  to  the  Cardinal  during  the  conspiracy 
of  Cinq-Mars  and  of  the  submission  to  which  ambition  had 
lately  prompted  him.  The  Spaniards  were  laying  siege  to 
Rocroi,  a  town  at  the  head  of  the  Forest  of  Ardennes,  poorly 
fortified  and  garrisoned,  and  of  considerable  strategic  import- 
ance, since  its  fall  would  leave  France  open  to  invasion. 
Contrary  to  the  advice  of  the  Marechal  de  l'Hopital,  who  had 
been  sent  to  restrain  the  fiery  ardour  of  the  youthful  commander, 
and  counselled  him  to  be  content  with  throwing  reinforcements 
into  the  beleaguered  town,  he  determined  to  give  them  battle 
without  delay.  The  armies  met  in  the  plain  before  Rocroi  in 
the  early  morning  of  19  May,  the  same  day  and  almost  at  the 
same  hour  as  Louis  XIII.,  who  had  died  on  the  16th,  was  laid  to 
rest  at  Saint-Denis,  and,  mainly  owing  to  a  brilliant  cavalry 
charge  delivered  by  Enghien  at  a  critical  moment,  the  French 
gained  a  complete  victory.  The  loss  of  the  Spaniards  was  very 
great,  while  the  whole  of  their  baggage  and  artillery  fell  into 
the  hands  of  the  victors. 

The  news  of  the  victory  of  Rocroi  was  received  with  frantic 
delight  in  Paris.  On  all  sides  nothing  was  heard  but  praises 
of  the  Due  d'Enghien  :  of  his  bravery,  his  military  genius,  his 
humanity  towards  the  wounded,  both  victors  and  vanquished, 
and  his  magnanimity  in  demanding  for  his  lieutenants  all  the 
rewards  of   victory,    since   he  himself  desired  nothing  but  the 


BIRTH   OF   HENRI   JULES   DE  BOURBON     201 

glory.  In  a  single  day,  he  had  become  a  popular  hero. 
The  enthusiasm  abated  only  to  burst  forth  again  three  months 
later,  when  intelligence  arrived  that  Thionville  had  surrendered 
to  the  young  general,  and  that  the  entrance  to  Germany,  by 
way  of  the  Moselle,  lay  open  to  the  French. 

A  few  days  before  Thionville  fell,  on  the  evening  of  30  July, 
the  little  Duchesse  d'Enghien  gave  birth  to  a  very  fine  boy. 
"  The  size  of  this  child  is  a  marvel,  in  view  of  the  smallness  of 
the  mother,"  writes  Perrault  to  Girard,  secretary  to  the  Due 
d'Enghien,  "  and  the  doctors  who  have  assisted  her  wonder  at 
it,  and  are  not  less  astonished  at  the  facility  of  the  accouche- 
ment, which  has  been  such  that  one  would  suppose  that  this 
little  one  has  never  done  anything  else."  l 

Monsieur  le  Prince  at  once  sent  off  one  of  his  gentlemen, 
named  La  Roussiere,  to  announce  the  glad  tidings  to  the  duke ; 
but  Enghien  showed  no  eagerness  to  express  his  paternal  joy, 
and,  instead  of  sending  the  messenger  back,  kept  him  to  assist 
at  the  reduction  of  Thionville.  Nor  was  it  until  after  the  town 
had  capitulated,  and  Conde  had  despatched  another  messenger, 
informing  him  that  the  boy  "  resembled  him  and  was  the  most 
beautiful  in  the  world,"  that  he  finally  condescended  to  write  a 
few  lines  to  the  young  mother. 

About  the  middle  of  November,  the  duke  returned  to  Paris 
to  receive  the  felicitations  of  his  family  and  friends,  and  to 
resume  his  "  chaste  amours  "  with  Mile,  du  Vigean.  His  eulogistic 
historian  Desormeaux  declares  that,  on  arriving  at  the  Hotel  de 
Conde  and  perceiving  his  son,  "his  tender  and  magnanimous 
soul  enjoyed  a  pleasure  more  dear  and  more  pure  than  that  of 
victory";  while  the  Gazette  asserts  that  "to  express  the 
pleasure  which  his  [Enghien's]  presence  had  occasioned  the 
Prince  de  Conde  and  all  his  family  would  be  as  difficult  as  to 
represent  the  joy  which  the  duke  experienced  at  the  sight  of 
the  son  born  to  him  in  the  midst  of  so  many  laurels  and 
popular  acclamations." 

It  is,  however,  unnecessary  to  see  in  such  testimony  any- 
thing except  the  blind  respect  of  a  prote'gi  of  the  Condes  and 

1  Letter  of  30  July,  1643,  published  by  the  Due  d'Aumale. 


202       THE  LOVE-AFFAIRS  OF  THE  COND&S 

the  optimism  of  the  editor  of  an  official  publication.  For  the 
family  correspondence  proves  that,  at  this  time,  Enghien 
certainly  gave  no  indication  of  the  intense  affection  which  he 
was  to  bestow  upon  his  son  in  later  years,  'and  he  took  advan- 
tage of  the  fact  that  the  Court  was  still  in  mourning  for  the  late 
king  to  have  him  baptized  without  the  customary  rejoicings. 
The  child,  to  whom  Mazarin  and  Madame  la  Princesse  stood 
sponsors,  received  the  name  of  Henri  Jules  and  took  the  title  of 
Due  d'Albret. 

If  the  poor  Duchesse  d'Enghien  had  anticipated  that  the 
birth  of  her  son  would  prove  a  link  between  herself  and  her 
husband,  she  was  doomed  to  disappointment,  for  she  found 
herself  more  neglected  than  ever.  Soon  after  her  confinement, 
she  had  fallen  so  seriously  ill  that  the  duke  had  been  able  for  a 
moment  to  count  upon  her  death  and  to  look  forward  to  a 
honeymoon  with  Mile,  du  Vigean  ;  and  it  is  to  be  feared  that 
he  received  the  news  of  her  convalescence  with  very  mixed 
feelings.  Disappointed  in  the  hope  of  receiving  any  assistance 
from  Nature,  he  appealed  to  his  mother  to  use  her  influence 
with  the  Regent  to  obtain  the  dissolution  of  his  marriage,  and 
found  in  her  a  willing  ally. 

Madame  la  Princesse,  although  she  had  never  forgiven 
Richelieu  the  execution  of  her  brother,  Henri  de  Montmorency, 
whom  all  her  prayers  and  tears  had  not  sufficed  to  save,  had 
raised  no  objection  to  her  son's  marriage  with  his  niece,  and  had, 
so  long  as  the  Cardinal  lived,  shown  the  girl  every  considera- 
tion. But,  since  the  death  of  Richelieu,  she  seemed  to  have 
transferred  to  her  innocent  daughter-in-law  the  hatred  she  had 
vowed  against  the  Minister,  and  sought  to  atone  for  the 
hypocritical  attitude  she  had  been  forced  to  assume  by  treating 
her  with  the  coldest  disdain.  The  prospect  of  humiliating  the 
family  of  the  man  whom  she  had  regarded  as  her  brother's 
murderer  naturally  appealed  to  her,  and  she  lost  no  time  in 
approaching  Anne  of  Austria  on  the  subject. 

The  prestige  of  Enghien  was  just  then  so  great  that  it  was 
difficult  for  the  Regent  and  Mazarin  to  refuse  him  anything, 
and,  though  Anne  expressed  her  disapproval  of  the  project   in 


ENGHIEN  DISCARDS  MLLE.   DU  VIGEAN     203 

unmistakable  terms,  and  Mazarin  was  anxious  to  protect  the 
niece  of  his  benefactor,  it  is  quite  probable  that  they  would 
eventually  have  yielded  to  pressure,  and  that  the  young  duchess 
would  have  been  repudiated  by  her  unscrupulous  husband,  if 
the  Prince  de  Conde  had  not  intervened  in  her  favour. 

To  his  honour,  be  it  said,  Monsieur  le  Prince  had  never 
wavered  in  his  loyalty  to  the  compact  which  he  had  made  with 
Richelieu  over  the  Cardinal's  niece.  If  it  were  not  in  his 
nature  to  show  the  girl  much  affection,  he  understood,  at  least, 
how  to  constitute  himself  her  protector,  and  had  not  ceased  to 
employ  every  means  to  bring  back  his  son  to  a  wife  who  was 
so  worthy  of  his  affection.  Informed  by  his  daughter,  the 
Duchesse  de  Longueville — who,  though  she  had  hitherto  been 
the  sympathetic  confidante  of  her  brother  and  Mile,  du  Vigean, 
had  declined  to  be  a  party  to  so  discreditable  an  intrigue — of 
the  projects  which  were  being  discussed  in  his  family,  he  showed 
the  utmost  indignation.  Sending  for  Enghien  and  Mile,  du 
Vigean,  "he  said  a  thousand  cruel  things  to  both  lover  and 
mistress,"  after  which  he  advised  the  duke  to  return  to  his 
military  duties  as  speedily  as  possible.  The  latter  obeyed,  and, 
shortly  afterwards,  bade  a  touching  farewell  to  his  lady-love  * 
and  set  out  for  the  army. 

In  August  1544,  Enghien  added  to  the  laurels  he  had  gained 
at  Rocroi  in  three  days'  sanguinary  fighting  before  Freiburg, 
and  a  year  later  gained  the  victory  of  Nordlingen  over  the 
Imperialists.  In  the  latter  engagement  he  was  wounded,  and  an 
attack  of  fever  which  supervened  nearly  cost  him  his  life.  In 
the  autumn  he  returned  to  Paris,  in  a  very  weak  state  of  health, 
when,  as  a  general  rule,  man  is  particularly  susceptible  to 
feminine  blandishments.  The  astonishment  of  his  friends  and 
the  despair  of  poor  Mile,  du  Vigean  may,  therefore,  be  imagined, 
when  it  was  perceived  that  he  seemed  to  regard  the  girl  whom 
he  had  once  so  passionately  loved  with  as  much  indifference 
"  as  if  he  had  never  heard  her  voice." 

To  what  are  we  to  attribute  so  sudden  a  revulsion  of  feeling  ? 

1  According  to  some   chroniclers,  such   was  his   emotion  at   parting   from   his 
inamorata,  that  he  fell  down  in  a  swoon  at  her  feet. 


204       THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   COND&S 

The  ingenuous  Desormeaux  ascribes  it  to  the  fact  that  "his 
love  had  vanished  with  the  prodigious  quantity  of  blood  that 
had  been  taken  from  him  "  ;  others  to  the  effect  of  the  paternal 
remonstrances.  But  the  most  probable  reason  is  that,  with 
increasing  years  and  experience  of  life,  common-sense  had  at 
last  asserted  itself,  and  that,  in  despair  either  of  obtaining  the 
dissolution  of  his  marriage  or  of  overcoming  the  virtuous 
scruples  of  his  inamorata,  he  had  decided  no  longer  to  abandon 
himself  to  a  passion  which  could  have  no  other  result  than  that 
of  troubling  his  peace  of  mind. 

It  is  possible,  however,  that  he  may  have  been  prompted  by 
a  more  worthy  motive.  Finding  that  his  equivocal  attentions 
had  somewhat  compromised  the  lady,  while,  on  the  other  hand , 
her  devotion  to  himself  had  caused  her  to  reject  the  honourable 
advances  of  more  than  one  highly  eligible  suitor,  he  may  at 
length  have  awakened  to  a  sense  of  the  selfishness  of  his  conduct 
and  have  determined  to  yield  his  place  to  some  one  with  a  better 
right. 

If  such  were  the  reason  of  his  withdrawal,  the  sacrifice  was 
a  vain  one.  Marthe  du  Vigean,  though  she  permitted  no  com- 
plaint to  escape  her,  remained  inconsolable.  She  turned  a  deaf 
ear  to  Saint-Mesgrin  and  other  suitors,  who  crowded  round  her 
as  soon  as  the  brusque  retreat  of  Enghien  was  known,  and 
resolved  to  become  the  bride  of  the  Church.  Lest,  however, 
the  resolution  which  she  meditated  should  be  deemed  by  the 
world  the  "  outcome  of  grief  or  of  mortification,"  she  took  no 
immediate  steps  to  carry  it  out,  and  for  some  time  continued 
to  receive  the  visits  of  her  friends,  even  of  those  who  had  been 
the  witnesses  of  her  passion.  But,  at  length,  in  the  summer  of 
1547,  ignoring  the  counsels  and  entreaties  of  her  relatives,  she 
quitted  her  father's  house  and  took  refuge  with  the  Carmelites 
of  the  Rue  Saint-Jacques,  whither  the  poor  little  Duchesse 
d'Enghien  had  been  accustomed  to  repair,  on  account  of  her,  to 
appease  her  jealousy  and  find  resignation.  Anne  du  Vigean,  the 
future  Duchesse  de  Richelieu,  in  a  letter  to  her  brother,  the 
Marquis  de  Fors,  gives  an  interesting  picture  of  her  sister's  last 
days  in  the  world  : 


MLLE.    DU   VIGEAN   TAKES   THE  VEIL      205 

"...  We  went  to  Rueil,  where  we  spoke  every  day  of  the 
affair  [Marthe  du  Vigean's  resolution  to  become  a  nun],  and 
where  many  tears  were  shed  ;  and  the  conclusion  arrived  at  was 
that,  at  any  rate,  nothing  should  be  done  for  six  months,  my 
mother  hoping,  in  asking  this  delay  of  her,  that  she  might  be 
able  to  induce  her  to  alter  her  mind.  Finally,  we  returned  here, 
because  I  was  very  ill  ;  I  had  fever  so  badly  that  I  did  not  move 
from  my  bed.  One  fine  day,  she  said  to  me :  '  Sister,  I  shall 
not  give  them  all  the  time  I  promised,  for  I  shall  go  before 
another  week  has  passed  ! '  I  begged  her  to  give  me  time  to 
write  to  my  mother,  in  order  that  she  might  come  and  speak  to 
her,  since  I  was  not  strong  enough  to  retain  or  to  counsel  her. 
I  wrote,  accordingly,  ill  though  I  was.  In  the  meanwhile,  I 
had  sent  to  the  Hotel  de  Longueville  to  learn  your  news  [the 
news  from  the  army],  because  I  had  been  told  that  a  courier 
had  arrived,  and  Madame  de  Longueville  wrote  to  me  to  send 
for  it ;  and  at  the  end  of  her  letter  she  asked  my  sister  to  go 
and  see  her.  She  went  out,  therefore,  to  go  thither,  and  when 
she  had  gone  half  the  distance,  told  her  people  that  she  must 
turn  aside  to  the  '  Grandes  Carmelites* l  but  that  she  had  only 
a  word  to  say  to  them.  She  made  them  turn  her  carriage  and 
went  thither,  where  she  is  still  and  does  not  intend  to  come  out. 
My  mother  arrived  an  hour  later.  .  .  .  My  father  wished  to  kill 
every  one,  all  the  Missionaries  and  Carmelites  in  the  world,  but 
he  is  beginning  to  be  somewhat  appeased.  I  go  to  see  her  every 
day  ;  she  is  merry  and  resolute,  and  watches  me  weeping  without 
shedding  a  tear."2 

Marthe  du  Vigean  seems  to  have  been  very  happy  in  her 
new  life,  and  declared  that  she  would  not  change  her  condition 
to  be  empress  of  the  whole  world.3  She  made  profession  in  1649, 
and  took  the  name  of  Sceur  Marthe  de  Jesus.     She  held  the 

1  There  were  two  convents  of  Carmelite  nuns  in  Paris  at  this  period,  one  in  the 
Faubourg  Saint-Jacques,  the  other  in  the  Rue  Chapon.  The  first,  which  was  the 
parent-house  of  the  order  in  France,  was  known  as  the  "  Grandes  Carmelites" 
-  Published  by  MM.  Romberg  et  Jousselin,  "la  Femme  du  Grand  Conde." 
3  Letter  of  Mere  Agnes  de  Jesus,  Prioress  of  the  Carmelites  of  the  Faubourg 
Saint-Jacques,  to  Mile.  d'Lpernon,  cited  by  Victor  Cousin,  "  la  Jeunesse  de  Madame 
de  Longueville." 


206       THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   COND&S 

office  of  sub-prioress  from  1659- 1662,  a°d  died  three  years  later, 
at  the  age  of  forty-four. 

The  peace  of  the  cloister  had  descended  upon  her,  but  the 
memory  of  her  grace  and  beauty  lingered  long  in  the  world  she 
had  quitted : 

"Lorsque  Vigean  quitta  la  Cour, 
Les  Jeux,  les  Graces,  les  Amours 
Entrerent  dans  le  monastere. 

Laire  la  laire,  Ion  lere 

Laire  la  laire,  Ion  la. 

Les  Jeux  pleurerent  ce  jour-la  ; 
Ce  jour-la.  la  beaute  se  voila 
Et  fit  vceu  d'etre  solitaire 


The  man  whom  she  had  loved  with  such  devotion  did  not 
seek  to  see  her  again,  but  always  preserved  for  her  "  a  recollec- 
tion full  of  respect."  2 

1  Voiture.  -  Lenet,  "  Memoires." 


CHAPTER  XV 

Notwithstanding  his  rupture  with  Mile,  du  Vigean,  the  Due  d'Enghien 
continues  to  treat  his  wife  with  coldness — The  heart  of  the  prince  is  fiercely 
disputed  by  the  ladies  of  the  Court — Dissipated  life  of  Enghien  :  paternal 
remonstrances — Liaisofi  between  the  duke  and  Ninon  de  l'Enclos — Death  of 
Henri  II.  de  Bourbon,  Prince  de  Conde" — Failure  of  the  new  Prince  de  Conde 
before  Lerida — His  brilliant  victory  at  Lens — Beginning  of  the  Fronde — 
Condd  remains  faithful  to  the  Court,  and  takes  command  of  the  royal  troops 
— The  Duchesse  de  Chatillon  becomes  his  mistress — Peace  of  Rueil — The 
arrogance  and  ambition  of  Conde"  causes  the  Court  and  the  Frondeurs  to 
join  forces  against  him — The  arrest  of  the  Princes — The  Princesse  de  Conde" 
at  Bordeaux — Death  of  the  dowager-princess — Equivocal  conduct  of  Madame 
de  Chatillon — Episode  of  an  unaddressed  letter — Exile  of  Mazarin  and 
release  of  the  Princes — Continued  indifference  of  Condd  towards  his  wife, 
notwithstanding  her  courageous  efforts  on  his  behalf — Negotiations  between 
him  and  the  Regent — His  rupture  with  the  Frondeurs,  who  draw  towards  the 
Court — Conde"  retires  to  Saint-Maur — Alliance  between  the  Court  and  the 
Frondeurs — Proceedings  against  Cond£ — The  prince  retires  to  Montrond 
and  "  draws  the  sword." 

THE  brusque  and  unexpected  rupture  of  the  Due 
d'Enghien  with  Marthe  du  Vigean  for  a  moment 
encouraged  the  hope  of  a  better  understanding  between 
the  prince  and  the  legitimate  object  of  his  affections.  Although 
she  could  not,  of  course,  compare  in  outward  attractions  with 
Mile,  du  Vigean,  the  little  duchess,  now  in  her  eighteenth  year, 
had  improved  greatly  in  appearance  since  her  marriage,  and,  if 
not  regularly  pretty,  she  was,  with  her  open  countenance,  her 
fine  dark  eyes,  her  beautiful  complexion,  and  her  trim  figure, 
a  decidedly  pleasing  personality.  Moreover,  she  was  highly 
intelligent,  conversing  well  and  agreeably  on  a  number  of 
subjects,  and  showing  a  good  sense  and  a  keenness  of  observation 
beyond  her  years,  possessed  a  singularly  sweet  disposition,  and 

207 


2o8       THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE  COND&S 

was,  notwithstanding  the  indifference  with  which  her  husband 
had  treated  her,  sincerely  attached  to  him. 

Unhappily,  this  hope  proved  illusive,  for  Enghien  did  not 
depart   from   that  studiously  courteous   but   cold    and   distant 
attitude  which  he  had  adopted  towards  his  wife  from  the  first 
day  of  his  marriage.     The  poor  little  duchess  was  bitterly  dis- 
appointed, but  she  had  schooled  herself  to  suffer  in  silence,  and 
courageously  refused  to  allow  the  world  to  perceive  how  keenly 
she  felt  her  husband's  neglect.     Fresh  trials,  however,  awaited 
her.     Hitherto,  she  had,  at  least,  had  the  consolation  of  believing 
that  Enghien  was  still  faithful  to  his  marriage-vows,  in  deed,  if 
not  in  thought,  for  the  virtue  of  Mile,  du  Vigean  had  proved  a 
more  impregnable  fortress  than  Thionville,  and  his  passion  for 
her  seems  to  have  preserved  him  from  the  wiles  of  more  facile 
beauties.    But  now  even  this  was  to  be  denied  her.    The  moment 
it  became  known  that  Enghien  had  broken  definitely  with  Mile. 
du  Vigean,  the  heart  over  which  the  latter  had  so  long  reigned 
supreme  was  fiercely  disputed  by  the  ladies  of  the  Court,  and 
the  young  hero  became  the  object  of  the  most  singular  advances. 
The  majestic  Duchesse  de  Montbazon,1  the  fire  of  whose  splendid 
eyes  "penetrated  even  the  most   insensible  hearts,"2  charged 
their  common  friend,  the  Due  de  Rohan,  to  acquaint  the  prince 
with  the  sentiments  which  she  entertained  for  him.     Mile,   de 
Neuillant,  afterwards  Duchesse  de  Navailles,  one  of  the  Queen- 
Mother's  filles  (Vhonneur,   made   similar   overtures,  with   more 
diplomacy,  but  with  equal  ardour,  and  left  no  means  untried 
to  engage  the  affections  of  his  Highness.     But  neither  of  these 
ladies  appear  to  have  made  much  impression  upon  their  quarry, 
and  it  was  a  colleague  of  Mile,  de  Neuillant,  the  charming  Louise 
de  Prie,  Mile,  de  Toussy,  who  came  nearest  to  success.    For  some 
little  time  Enghien  paid  her  the  most  assiduous  attentions,  and 
negotiations  of  a  very  equivocal  nature  were  carried  on  between 
the  prince  and  the  damsel's  relatives,  through  the  medium  of 
the  Chevalier  de  la  Riviere.    But,  either  because  Mile,  de  Toussy's 

1  Marie  de  Bretagne,  daughter  of  the  Comte  de  Vertus,  and  wife  of  Hercule  de 
Rohan,  Due  de  Montbazon. 

2  Madame  de  Motteville,  "Memoires." 


ENGHIEN   AND   NINON   DE   L'ENCLOS        209 

family  was  inclined  to  be  too  exorbitant  in  its  demands  upon 
Enghien's  generosity,  or,  more  probably,  because  she  herself 
was  only  willing  to  be  a  mistress  in  the  poetic  acceptation  of 
the  term,  the  ducal  ardour  soon  cooled,  and  the  young  lady 
consoled  herself  for  her  admirer's  defection  by  marrying  the 
Due  de  la  Mothe-Houdancourt. 

But,  if  no  woman  were  permitted  to  succeed  to  the  place 
which  Marthe  du  Vigean  had  occupied  in  Enghien's  affections, 
the  ardent  nature  which  he  had  inherited  together  with  the 
courage  of  his  ancestors  soon  found  satisfaction  in  amours  of  a 
less  sentimental  character,  and  his  life  became  so  dissipated 
that,  during  the  summer  of  1646,  the  Prince  de  Conde  felt 
obliged  to  remonstrate  with  him  in  the  strongest  terms.  "  My 
son,"  he  writes,  "  God  bless  you.  Cure  yourself,  or,  it  is  better 
to  poniard  yourself  than  lead  the  life  that  you  are  doing.  ...  I 
pray  God  to  console  me.  I  write  to  you  in  despair,  and  am, 
Monsieur,  your  good  father  and  friend.  .  .  .  "  * 

The  Due  d'Enghien  did  not  poniard  himself,  but  neither  did 
he  amend  his  ways  to  any  appreciable  extent.  His  conquests  in 
the  pays  de  tendre  far  outnumbered  those  beyond  the  Rhine,  but 
the  very  ease  with  which  they  were  achieved  deprived  them  of  all 
value  in  his  eyes  and  speedily  quenched  the  flame  of  passion  : 
indeed,  the  only  woman  to  whose  charms  he  seems  to  have  been 
really  sensible  was  the  celebrated  Ninon  de  l'Enclos,  to  whom 
his  attention  seems  first  to  have  been  drawn  by  the  enthusiastic 
praises  of  their  common  friend  Saint-Evremond.  For  a  year  or 
two  the  prince  was  a  frequent  visitor  at  Ninon's  hotel  in  the 
Rue  des  Tournelles,  and  the  lady,  whose  vanity  was  flattered  by 
the  admiration  of  the  hero  of  the  hour,  was  very  kind  to  him 
indeed.  But  it  was  not  in  Ninon's  nature  to  be  faithful  to  any 
one  for  long — "  I  shall  love  you  for  three  months,"  she  once 
wrote  to  a  new  admirer,  "  and  three  months  is  an  eternity  !  " — 
and,  besides,  the  victor  of  Rocroi  made  war  a  great  deal  better 
than  he  made  love,  and  preferred  to  receive  homage  rather  than 
to  offer  it.     So  gradually   her   affection  cooled,  and  when  the 

1   Letter  of  J.S  August,  1646,  Archives  de  Chantilly,  cited  by  MM.  Ilomberg  and 

Jousselin,  "  la  Femme  du  Grand  Conde." 
P 


210       THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   COND&S 

prince,  on  his  return  from  the  campaign  of  1648,  reproached  her 
for  having  encouraged  the  intrigue  between  his  sister  Madame 
Longueville  and  La  Rochefoucauld,  and  for  permitting  the 
lovers  to  meet  at  her  house,  she  dismissed  him  and  consoled 
herself  with  the  Marquis  de  Villarceaux,  who  had  long  sued  for 
her  favours. 

At  the  beginning  of  December,  the  Prince  de  Conde,  who 
had  been  in  failing  health  for  the  last  eighteen  months,  was 
taken  seriously  ill,  and  at  midnight  on  the  26th  he  died,  in  his 
fifty-seventh  year.  He  made,  we  are  assured,  a  very  Christian 
end,  in  the  presence  of  his  wife  and  his  two  sons — Madame  de 
Longueville  had  followed  her  husband  to  the  Congress  of 
Munster — and  "  parted  from  Madame  la  Princesse  as  though  he 
had  loved  her  all  his  life."  1  In  his  will,  he  left  large  sums  to 
the  poor,  "  deeming  it  incumbent  upon  him  to  restore  the  profits 
of  the  benefices  that  he  had  wrongly  enjoyed,"  and  even  the 
humblest  of  his  servants  was  not  forgotten.  His  body  was 
interred  in  the  parish  church  of  Valery  ;  his  heart  he  bequeathed 
to  the  Jesuits  of  the  Rue  Saint-Antoine,  an  example  which  was 
followed  by  his  descendants. 

Morose  and  bigoted,  self-seeking  and  avaricious,  the  third 
Prince  de  Conde  is  far  from  an  attractive  personality.  Never- 
theless, his  death  was  a  sensible  loss  both  to  his  family  and  to 
France.  Selfish  and  turbulent  though  his  conduct  had  been 
during  the  regency  of  Marie  de'  Medici,  when  once  he  had 
decided  that  his  own  interests  would  be  better  served  by  loyalty 
than  by  opposition  to  the  Crown,  he  certainly  spared  no  effort 
to  deserve  the  important  offices  and  immense  pensions  which 
were  the  reward  of  his  fidelity  ;  and  the  steady  support  he  gave 
to  Anne  of  Austria  and  Mazarin  since  ithe  beginning  of  the 
new  reign  had  been  of  the  highest  value  to  the  Government. 
"  As  sparing  of  the  King's  money  as  his  own,"  writes  the  Due 
d'Aumaie,  "  his  ideas  on  financial  matters  were  sound ;  he 
desired  that  the  public  debts  should  be  regularly  discharged, 
and  opposed  extravagance  and  the  constant  augmentation  of 
expenses,  as  well  as  increased  taxation.    He  inspired  confidence 

1  Madame  de  Motteville,  "Memoires," 


NINON    DE    L'ENCl.OS 

FROM    A    MINIATl'KK    I\    THE    SOUTH    KENSINGTON    Ml'SKUM 


ENGHIEN   BECOMES   PRINCE   DE   CONDE    211 

in  serious  men  of  affairs,  who  never  wished  to  conclude  a  treaty 
when  he  did  not  assist  at  the  Council.  The  quack  financiers, 
the  d'Emeris  and  the  rest,  feared  him  and  rejoiced  at  his  death. 
They  played  a  fine  game  after  he  was  gone."  1 

His  authority  over  his  family  was  absolute.  His  children,  if 
they  did  not  love  him,  both  feared  and  respected  him,  and  to 
the  last  Enghien,  so  impatient  of  all  control,  showed  towards 
his  father  the  greatest  deference.  Had  Henri  de  Bourbon  lived 
a  few  years  longer,  his  sound  common-sense  would  certainly 
have  saved  them  from  the  disasters  they  brought  upon  them- 
selves and  France  ;  and  the  Fronde  might  have  been,  after  all, 
merely  "  a  blaze  of  straw." 

Charlotte  de  Montmorency  had  the  enjoyment  for  her  life  of 
the  whole  of  her  deceased  husband's  property,  subject  only  to 
an  annual  charge  of  80,000  livres  in  favour  of  her  elder  son, 
and  10,000  in  favour  of  the  younger.  This  arrangement  was  no 
doubt  a  just  one,  seeing  that  the  large  fortune  which  his  wife 
brought  him  had  been  the  basis  of  Henri  de  Bourbon's  great 
wealth.  But  it,  nevertheless,  weighed  very  hardly  on  his  suc- 
cessor, who  had  received  comparatively  little  with  Mile,  de 
Breze,  and,  being  as  liberal  as  his  father  was  the  reverse,  soon 
found  himself  seriouslyi  embarrassed  to  maintain  his  position 
as  first  Prince  of  the  Blood,  notwithstanding  the  revenues  he 
derived  from  his  offices  and  governments. 

In  the  spring  of  1647,  tne  new  Prince  de  Conde  was 
despatched  to  Catalonia  to  endeavour  to  retrieve  the  reverses 
sustained  in  that  province,  which  had  of  late  years  earned  an 
unenviable  notoriety  as  the  grave  of  French  military  reputations. 
He  determined  to  lay  siege  to  the  fortress  of  Lerida,  and,  on 
18  May,  the  trenches  were  opened  gaily  to  the  sound  of  violins. 
It  was  a  fashion  of  the  time,  which  made  of  a  war  a  fete  ;  but  it 
was  the  hitherto  invincible  general  who  had,  on  this  occasion, 
to  pay  the  expenses  of  the  music ;  for  Lerida  was  resolutely 
defended,  while  the  supplies  and  siege-artillery  promised  him 
by  the  Government  did  not  arrive,  and,  after  severe  losses,  he 

1  "  Histoire  des  Princes  de  Conde." 


212       THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS  OF  THE   COND&S 

decided  to  raise  the  siege.  Conde"  deserved  credit  for  having 
placed  the  safety  of  his  army  before  his  pride ;  but  it  was  his 
first  reverse,  and,  though  he  was  aware  that  he  had  done  every- 
thing possible  to  ensure  success,  his  mortification  was  none  the 
less  keen. 

The  memory  of  the  Catalonian  fiasco  was  brilliantly  effaced 
in  the  following  year,  when,  in  command  of  the  Army  of 
Flanders,  he  gained,  with  comparatively  trifling  loss,  the  splendid 
victory  of  Lens,  over  an  enemy  much  superior  in  numbers, 
whom,  by  a  feigned  retreat,  he  had  succeeded  in  drawing  from 
an  almost  unassailable  position  into  a  battle  on  level  ground 
(20  August).  This  success  hastened  the  conclusion  of  peace 
with  the  Emperor,  and,  on  24  October,  1648,  the  Treaty  of 
Westphalia  terminated  thirty  years  of  war  and  twelve  years  of 
negotiations,  and  extended  the  frontiers  of  France  to  the  coveted 
line  of  the  Rhine. 

Left  with  Spain  alone  to  face,  there  seemed  every  reason  to 
hope  that  a  great  future  awaited  France,  and  that,  as  the  result 
of  two  or  three  successful  campaigns,  she  would  be  enabled  to 
secure  the  same  advantages  in  the  North-East  and  South-West 
as  she  had  already  secured  in  the  East.  That  this  hope  was  only 
very  partially  realized,  and  that  not  until  after  more  than  ten 
years  of  further  warfare,  was  due  to  that  miserable  internecine 
strife  which,  under  the  name  of  the  Fronde,  checked  the 
victorious  career  of  Conde  at  the  age  of  twenty-seven,  plunged 
France  into  a  welter  of  anarchy,  and  sapped  the  very  vitals  of 
the  nation. 

This  sanguinary  and  farcical  struggle  began  with  a  contest 
between  the  Court  and  the  Parlement  of  Paris,  which,  encouraged 
by  the  weakness  of  the  Government  and  backed  by  popular 
feeling,  was  neglecting  its  judicial  duties  to  encroach  upon  the 
political  rights  of  the  Crown  and  to  claim  an  authority  which 
even  the  States-General  had  never  possessed.  The  "  Importants  " 
— the  aristocratic  cabal,  headed  by  the  two  great  turbulent 
Houses  of  Vendome  and  Guise,  which  from  the  beginning  of  the 
regency  had  bitterly  opposed  the  ascendency  of  Mazarin — and  a 
number  of  discontented  and  ambitious  princes,  prelates,  nobles  and 


THE   DUCHESSE  DE   CHATILLON  213 

great  ladies :  Paul  de  Gondi,  afterwards  the  Cardinal  de  Retz, 
La  Rochefoucauld,  the  Due  and  Duchesse  de  Longueville,  the 
Prince  de  Conti,  Turenne,  and  the  Due  and  Duchesse  de 
Bouillon,  threw  in  their  lot  with  the  popular  cause. 

Although  Conde  detested  Mazarin  and  sympathized  to  a 
large  extent  with  the  opposition  to  the  Minister,  and  though 
Madame  de  Longueville,  who  exercised  great  influence  over  both 
her  brothers,  made  every  effort  to  win  him  over  to  her  cause,  the 
sentiment  of  duty,  which  was  not  yet  obscured,  kept  him  faithful 
to  the  Court,  and  to  the  solicitations  of  the  rebels  he  replied 
simply  :  "  My  name  is  Louis  de  Bourbon,  and  I  do  not  wish  to 
weaken  the  Crown."  An  admirable  maxim,  which,  however,  he 
was  very  soon  to  abandon. 

In  the  early  morning  of  6  January,  the  Court  quitted  Paris 
for  Saint-Germain,  a  picturesque  exodus  of  which  the  pen  of  la 
Grande  Mademoiselle  has  traced  an  inimitable  picture,  and  the 
rebellious  capital  was  forthwith  invested  by  the  royal  troops, 
under  the  command  of  Conde.  The  forces  at  the  prince's  dis- 
posal were,  however,  insufficient  to  invest  the  city  completely, 
and,  though  some  roads  were  effectually  closed,  others  remained 
open.  Occasional  skirmishes  took  place,  but  the  only  serious 
fighting  occurred  at  Charenton  on  8  February.  In  this  affair, 
the  Due  de  Chatillon,  husband  of  the  beautiful  Isabelle  de  Mont- 
morency-Boutteville,  was  mortally  wounded  and  expired  the  fol- 
lowing day  at  Vincennes,  whither  he  had  been  carried.  With  his 
death,  the  male  line  of  the  illustrious  Admiral  became  extinct. 

The  widowed  duchess  received  the  sad  news  with  comparative 
indifference,  but,  according  to  Madame  de  Motteville,  "  counter- 
feited grief,  after  the  manner  of  ladies  who  love  themselves  too 
well  to  care  for  any  one  else."  She  had  not,  indeed,  waited  for 
the  death  of  her  husband  to  establish  tender  relations  with  the 
fascinating  Due  de  Nemours,  and  was  already  aspiring  to  resume 
over  the  heart  of  Conde  the  empire  which  she  had  for  a  brief 
while  exercised  in  former  years. 1     Hitherto,  the  prince  would 

1  It  must  be  admitted  that  she  had  some  excuse  for  her  conduct,  as  the  deceased 
duke  had  been  far  from  a  faithful  husband,  and  had  gone  into  his  last  fight  with  a 
garter  of  his  lady-love,  Mile,  de  Guerchy,  bound  round  his  arm. 


214       THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS  OF  THE   CONDF.S 

appear  to  have  given  the  lady  but  scant  encouragement,  for, 
though  very  far  from  indifferent  to  her  charms,  Chatillon  was 
one  of  his  closest  friends,  and  the  idea  of  engaging  in  a  liaison 
with  his  wife  was  repugnant  to  his  sense  of  honour.  But,  with 
the  death  of  the  duke,  his  scruples  vanished,  and  not  long 
afterwards  Isabelle  became  his  mistress,  without,  however,  re- 
nouncing the  Due  de  Nemours,  her  relations  with  whom 
she  was,  of  course,  very  careful  to  conceal  from  her  titular 
lover. 

On  12  March,  1649,  the  Peace  of  Rueil  put  an  end 
to  the  war,  though  it  was  not  until  18  August  that  the 
Court  returned  to  Paris,  after  an  absence  of  seven  and  a  half 
months. 

To  the  Parliamentary  Fronde  succeeded,  at  a  short  interval, 
the  Fronde  of  the  Princes,  more  difficult  to  characterize,  since 
it  was  composed  of  little  save  disappointed  ambitions  and  in- 
terested calculations,  but  also  more  difficult  to  conquer.  The 
good  understanding  between  Monsieur  le  Prince  and  Mazarin 
had  been  merely  of  a  temporary  nature,  called  into  being  by  the 
danger  to  which  the  royal  authority  had  found  itself  exposed, 
and  it  did  not  long  survive  the  restoration  of  order.  Conde's 
natural  pride  and  arrogance  had  been  enormously  increased  by 
the  events  of  the  last  few  months,  and  he  believed  his  support 
absolutely  indispensable  to  the  Government.  The  Regent  and 
her  Minister  were  willing  to  go  to  great  lengths  to  secure  a 
continuance  of  it,  but  no  ordinary  concessions  were;  likely  to 
satisfy  a  man  who  regarded  himself  as  the  saviour  of  the  Crown, 
and  believed  that  he  held  its  fate  in  the  hollow  of  his  hand,  and 
whose  jealous  and  suspicious  mind,  skilfully  played  upon  by  his 
sister,  seemed  to  see  in  every  action  of  Mazarin  a  carefully  calcu- 
lated move  to  strengthen  the  Cardinal's  position  or  to  diminish 
his  own  prestige.  His  increasing  pretensions  rendered  him  more 
of  a  rebel  than  the  Frondeurs  themselves  ;  his  arrogance  disgusted 
every  one.  He  exacted  from  Mazarin  a  written  agreement  where- 
by he  undertook  not  to  make  any  appointment  of  importance  in 
Church  or  State  unless  he  had  first  been  consulted,  or  to  arrange 
any  marriage  for  his  nephews  and  nieces  without  his  consent. 


THE  ARREST  OF  THE   PRINCES  215 

"  In  his  ordinary  life  he  had  such  mocking  airs  that  no  one  was 
able  to  endure  him.  However  high  their  rank,  people  were 
obliged  to  wait  an  interminable  time  in  Monsieur  le  Prince's 
ante-chamber.  In  the  visits  which  were  paid  him  he  manifested 
so  disdainful  an  ennui,  that  he  showed  plainly  that  they  were 
wearying  him." x  Finally,  having  exasperated  the  Regent  and 
Mazarin  beyond  endurance,  while,  at  the  same  time,  he  had  con- 
trived to  alienate  the  Frondeurs,  who  had  been  eager  for  his 
alliance,  the  latter  and  the  Court  joined  forces  against  him,  and, 
on  18  January,  1650,  he,  with  his  brother,  the  Prince  de  Conti, 
and  the  Due  de  Longueville,  were  arrested  at  the  Palais-Royal, 
whither  they  had  come  to  attend  a  meeting  of  the  Council,  and 
conducted  to  the  Chateau  of  Vincennes.  Madame  de  Longue- 
ville, whose  arrest  had  also  been  determined  upon,  succeeded  in 
making  her  escape  to  her  husband's  government  of  Normandy. 

Anne  of  Austria  and  Mazarin  appear  to  have  been  in  some 
doubt  whether  to  arrest  the  two  Princesses  de  Conde,  with  the 
little  Due  d'Enghien,  then  between  six  and  seven  years  old.2 
"  But  considering,"  says  Lenet,  "  that  the  dowager  was  a 
princess  of  a  timid  and  indolent  disposition,  and  that  the  young 
princess  was  without  friends,  without  money,  and  without 
experience,  and  not  very  well  satisfied  with  the  conduct  of  the 
prince,  her  husband,  they  had  decided  merely  to  order  them  to 
retire  to  Chantilly." 

In  sparing  the  young  princess,  they  committed  a  grave 
error,  for  Claire-Clemence  concealed  beneath  her  gentle  and 
retiring  nature  great  courage  and  energy  of  character,  which  only 
awaited  the  occasion  to  manifest  themselves.  While  all  her 
entourage  were  bewailing  the  misfortune  which  had  befallen 
them,  she  thought  only  of  effecting  her  husband's  liberation. 
The  Due  de  la  Rochefoucauld  had  formed  a  plan  of  resistance 
in  the  South,  always  ready  to  rise  in  insurrection  on  the 
smallest  provocation,  and  had  united  his  fortunes  to  those  of  his 
powerful   neighbour,  the    Due  de   Bouillon.      The   two   dukes 

1  Duchesse  de  Nemours,  "  Memoires." 

"  On  his  father  becoming  Prince  de  Conde,  the  little  Due  d'Albret  had  assumed 
the  title  of  Due  d'Enghien. 


216       THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   COND&S 

determined  to  link  to  the  cause  of  the  imprisoned  princes  that 
of  the  citizens  of  Bordeaux,  who  had  been  for  months  past  in 
a  state  of  semi-revolt  against  the  tyranny  of  their  detested 
governor,  the  Due  d'Epernon  ;  and  La  Rochefoucauld  despatched 
his  confidant,  Gourville,  to  Chantilly,  to  inform  the  Princesse  de 
Conde  of  their  intentions.  The  courageous  princess  at  once 
determined  to  join  them,  and,  with  the  aid  of  Lenet,  on  the 
night  of  11-12  April,  1650,  she  and  the  little  Due  d'Enghien 
escaped  from  Chantilly  and  made  their  way  to  Montrond, 
and  thence  to  Bouillon's  chateau  of  Turenne,  in  the  Limousin. 

The  gentry  of  the  South  flocked  to  offer  their  services  to  the 
princess,  who  soon  found  herself  at  the  head  of  a  considerable 
force  ;  and  at  the  end  of  May  she  appeared  before  Bordeaux. 
The  Parlement  and  the  municipal  authorities  hesitated  to 
receive  her,  in  the  face  of  the  formal  prohibition  of  the  King  ; 
but  the  populace,  incited  by  the  agents  of  Bouillon  and  La 
Rochefoucauld,  took  the  matter  out  of  their  hands,  flung  open 
the  gates  and  welcomed  her  with  frantic  enthusiasm.  The 
following  day,  leading  her  son  by  the  hand,  she  presented 
herself  at  the  Palais  de  Justice,  to  implore  the  protection  of 
the  Parlement.  "  Act  as  a  father  to  me,  Messieurs,  since  the 
Cardinal  Mazarin  has  taken  my  own  father  from  me,"  cried 
the  little  duke,  falling  upon  his  knees  ;  and  the  magistrates, 
partly  out  of  compassion  for  this  touching  spectacle,  and  partly 
out  of  fear  of  the  mob  which  was  clamouring  at  the  doors,  voted 
that  "the  dame  Princesse  de  Conde  and  the  seigneur  Due 
d'Enghien  might  reside  in  that  town  in  safety  under  the 
protection  of  the  laws." 

Next  day,  notwithstanding  the  protests  of  the  Parlement, 
Bouillon  and  La  Rochefoucauld  entered  the  city,  borne,  so  to 
speak,  on  the  shoulders  of  the  mob.  Soon  appeared  a  Spanish 
envoy,  with  promises  of  prompt  and  powerful  assistance  from 
Philip  IV.  ;  and  Bordeaux  and  the  greater  part  of  Guienne  were 
in  open  rebellion. 

The  revolt  in  Guienne  quickly  assumed  such  alarming 
proportions  that  Mazarin  decided  that  the  presence  of  the  King 
and  the  Regent  in  that  province  was  indispensable,  and  having 


MME.   LA  PRINCESSE  AT  BORDEAUX        217 

left  the  Marechal  du  Plessis-Praslin  to  hold  in  check  the 
insurrection  in  the  North,  on  4  July,  the  Court  quitted  Paris  to 
join  the  royal  army  of  the  South,  commanded  by  the  Marechal 
de  la  Meilleraie.  La  Meilleraie  soon  succeeded  in  confining 
the  revolt  within  the  walls  of  Bordeaux,  but  all  attempts  to 
induce  the  city  to  open  its  gates  proved  unavailing,  and  on 
5  September  the  siege  was  begun. 

While  the  novelty  of  the  affair  lasted,  the  Bordelais 
displayed  the  most  desperate  resolution.  Encouraged  by  the 
example  of  the  Princesse  de  Conde,  even  the  wives  of  the 
wealthiest  citizens  took  part  in  the  defence  of  the  town,  and 
carried  baskets  of  earth  decorated  with  bows  of  ribbon  to  the 
trenches.  The  little  Due  d'Enghien  rode  to  the  ramparts  and 
cried  to  his  attendants  to  give  him  a  sword,  "  that  he  might  go 
and  kill  Mazarin."  Bouillon  and  La  Rochefoucauld  directed 
the  defence-works,  and,  as  if  the  siege  had  been  a  pleasure- 
party,  "  regaled  the  ladies  with  fruit  and  sweetmeats  and  the 
workmen  with  wine."  Every  evening  there  was  dancing  under 
the  ramparts,  and  the  Princesse  de  Conde  held  a  court  in  a 
brilliantly-illuminated  gallery.  The  festivities,  indeed,  were  con- 
tinuous, notwithstanding  that  skirmishes,  often  very  sanguinary, 
took  place  almost  daily. 

However,  the  assistance  promised  by  Spain  did  not  arrive  ; 
the  better-class  citizens  soon  grew  tired  of  a  struggle  into 
which  they  had  been  forced  against  their  better  judgment ; 
while  the  bellicose  ardour  of  the  populace  was  cooled  by  the 
scarcity  of  provisions.  Moreover,  the  season  of  the  vintage 
was  approaching,  and  to  lose  the  chief  crop  of  the  year  would 
be  nothing  short  of  disaster.  Perceiving  how  matters  were 
tending,  the  Princesse  de  Conde  resolved  to  anticipate  the 
surrender  which  she  felt  was  imminent,  and,  on  1 1  September, 
proceeded  to  the  Hotel  de  Ville,  where  the  city  fathers  were 
assembled  in  conclave,  and  informed  them  that,  "  since  she 
sought  only  their  satisfaction  and  tranquillity,  she  would  do 
nothing  to  hinder  the  peace  which  they  might  be  able  to 
conclude  with  the  Cardinal." 

The  authorities  took  her  at  her  word  ;  and,  on  1  October, 


218       THE  LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   CONDES 

articles  of  peace  were  signed  between  the  Regent  and  the  insur- 
gents, whereby  a  full  and  complete  amnesty  was  granted  the 
Bordelais,  on  condition  that  the  King  and  his  troops  were 
admitted  to  the  town  ;  while  the  Princesse  de  Conde,  Bouillon, 
and  La  Rochefoucauld  were  permitted  to  retire  to  their  estates 
in  the  full  enjoyment  of  all  their  dignities,  on  the  promise 
that  they  would  lay  down  their  arms  and  "continue  hence- 
forth in  fidelity  and  obedience."  It  was  also  agreed  that  the 
Due  d'Epernon  should  be  temporarily  suspended  from  his 
duties  as  governor  of  the  province.  The  treaty  contained  no 
mention  of  the  Princes,  although  the  revolt  had  been  made 
in  their  name  and  for  their  deliverance. 

On  3  October,  the  Princesse  de  Conde  and  her  son  sailed 
from  Bordeaux,  "amid  a  rain  of  flowers,"  and  proceeded  to 
Bourg-sur-Mer,  where  the  Court  had  taken  up  its  residence. 
Claire-Clemence  went  to  salute  Anne  of  Austria,  and,  throwing 
herself  at  the  Queen's  feet,  demanded  pardon  for  her  husband. 
Her  Majesty  received  her  very  kindly  and  made  her  sit  by 
her  side,  but  her  answer  to  the  princess's  petition  was  not 
very  encouraging.  "  I  am  well  pleased,  my  cousin,"  said  she, 
"  that  you  acknowledge  your  fault ;  you  have  taken  a  bad 
way  to  obtain  what  you  ask  for ;  now  that  you  intend  to  take 
a  different  one,  I  will  see  when  and  how  I  can  give  you  the 
satisfaction  you  desire." 

While  Conde's  neglected  wife  was  promoting  insurrections 
and  confronting  the  perils  and  hardships  of  war  in  her 
husband's  interests,  his  mistress  was  very  differently  employed. 
The  Dowager-Princesse  de  Conde,  although  she  was  still 
only  in  her  fifty-fourth  year  and  had  hitherto  enjoyed  excellent 
health,  had  not  been  able  to  survive  the  misfortunes  of  her 
House.  As  sensible  to  the  present  disgrace  of  the  children 
whom  she  so  fondly  loved  as  she  had  been  to  their  former 
triumphs,  she'  had  grieved  over  it  to  such  a  degree  that  she 
fell  seriously  ill,  and  died  on  2  December,  1650,  at  Chatillon- 
sur-Loing,  the  residence  of  the  Duchesse  de  Chatillon,  to  which 
she  had  obtained  permission  to  retire. 

During  her  last  days,  the  old  princess  had  fallen  very  much 


MACHINATIONS   OF  MME.   DE  CHATILLON     219 

under  the  influence  of  Madame  de  Chatillon,  who,  as  avaricious 
as  she  was  unprincipled,  had  determined  to  obtain  a  share  of 
her  property.  In  this  she  was  but  too  successful.  "  The 
Duchesse  de  Chatillon,  who  was  the  most  astute  woman  in 
the  world,"  observes  Lenet,  "had  so  well  understood  how  to 
employ  her  adroit  and  subtle  mind  and  her  agreeable  and 
insinuating  manners  as  to  make  herself  so  completely  mistress 
of  the  princess-dowager,  that  she  saw  only  with  her  eyes  and 
spoke  only  with  her  mouth." 

It  was  with  the  idea  of  separating  the  old  princess  from  all 
the  friends  and  servants  who  might  endeavour  to  frustrate  her 
designs  that  the  duchess  had  persuaded  her  to  take  up  her 
residence  at  Chatillon-sur-Loing,  where  she  was  careful  not  to 
permit  any  one  to  approach  her,  except  Madame  de  Bourgneuf, 
the  gouvernante  of  Madame  de  Longueville's  children,  and 
Madame  la  Princesses  confessor,  a  worldly  and  intriguing  abbe 
named  Cambriac,  both  of  whom  she  had  succeeded  in  gaining 
over  to  her  cause.  The  outcome  of  these  manoeuvres  was  that 
the  dowager  bequeathed  to  Madame  de  Chatillon  nearly  the 
whole  of  her  jewellery — in  itself  a  respectable  fortune — and  the 
revenues  for  life  of  several  of  her  estates,  including  that  of 
Merlou,  near  Pontoise. 

The  young  Princesse  de  Conde  was  at  the  Chateau  of 
Montrond,  whither  she  had  proceeded  on  leaving  Guienne, 
when  she  learned  of  the  death  of  her  mother-in-law.  Well 
aware  of  the  rapacity  of  the  fair  Isabelle,  she  at  once  despatched 
Lenet  to  Chatillon  to  watch  over  her  husband's  interests  ;  and 
this  intervention  obliged  the  impatient  legatee  to  make  a  journey 
to  Montrond  to  ask  the  princess's  permission  to  take  possession 
of  the  jewellery  bequeathed  to  her.  The  interview  between  the 
two  ladies  was  rendered  the  more  piquant  by  an  incident  which 
afforded  Claire-Clemence  an  opportunity  for  enjoying  a  malicious 
triumph  over  the  too-coquettish  mistress  of  her  husband. 

Before  the  arrival  of  Madame  de  Chatillon  at  Montrond,  a 
courier  arrived  from  Paris,  bearing  a  packet  without  any  super- 
scription, which  was  brought  to  the  Princesse  dc  Conde  and 
opened  by  her.     It  contained  a  tender  letter  for  the  duchess  from 


220       THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   COND&S 

her  amant  de  cceur,  the  Due  de  Nemours,  in  which  he  assured 
her  that,  since  her  departure  from  Paris,  he  was  changed  to  the 
point  of  being  no  longer  recognizable,  and  was  gradually  pining 
away.  To  these  lamentations  the  lovelorn  nobleman  joined  some 
very  practical  counsels,  advising  his  inamorata  to  take  possession 
of  the  estate  of  Merlou — which,  as  we  have  mentioned,  the  late 
princess  had  left  her  for  life — before  Conde  was  set  at  liberty. 
Claire-Clemence  had  the  satisfaction  of  handing  this  missive  to 
her  rival,  when  the  latter  arrived  at  Montrond  a  day  or  two 
afterwards.  But  Madame  de  Chatillon,  so  far  from  exhibiting 
the  confusion  which  she  had  anticipated,  declared,  with  superb 
audacity,  that  the  letter  was  a  forgery,  since  M.  de  Nemours 
was  nothing  but  a  mere  acquaintance.  Notwithstanding  these 
denials,  the  story  of  the  letter  had  a  great  success,  and 
circulated  through  all  the  rtielles,  where  Madame  de  Chatillon 
was  unmercifully  bantered  about  it.  However,  she  could  well 
afford  to  disregard  these  railleries,  since  Conde,  too  much 
enamoured  not  to  forgive  the  equivocal  part  she  had  played 
towards  the  dowager-princess,  showed  no  intention  of  disputing 
the  will,  and  sent  instructions  to  his  wife  to  authorize  her  to 
take  possession  of  Merlou. 

Notwithstanding  the  suppression  of  the  revolt  in  Guienne 
and  the  crushing  defeat  inflicted  on  the  rebels  and  Spaniards  by 
Du  Plessis-Praslin  at  Rethel  (9  December,  1650),  the  party  of 
the  Princes  gained  adherents  every  day,  while  the  unpopularity 
of  Mazarin  steadily  increased.  The  Old  Fronde,  which  he  had 
alienated  by  his  refusal  to  accede  to  their  exhorbitant  demands, 
made  common  cause  with  the  friends  of  Conde,  and  persuaded 
the  fickle  Gaston  d' Orleans,  the  King's  uncle,  to  side  with  them. 
Encouraged  by  them,  the  Parlement  loudly  demanded  the 
liberation  of  the  Princes  and  the  dismissal  of  the  Cardinal,  and 
the  Regent  in  vain  endeavoured  to  defend  her  Minister.  By 
the  middle  of  February,  1561,  Mazarin  was  on  his  way  into  exile, 
and  Conde  was  a  free  man  once  more. 

As  soon  as  she  was  informed  of  the  approaching  liberation 
of  her  husband,  the  princess  had  made  preparations  to  set  out 
for  Paris  and  bid  him  welcome  at  the   Hotel  de  Conde,  but  she 


AN    UNGRATEFUL   HUSBAND  221 

was  suddenly  taken  ill  and  obliged  to  remain  at  Montrond. 
Such,  however,  was  her  impatience  to  rejoin  him  that,  while 
still  barely  convalescent,  she  insisted  on  starting  on  her  journey, 
travelling  the  first  part  of  the  way  in  a  litter.  After  having 
given  her  husband  so  many  proofs  of  love  and  devotion,  after 
having  supported  with  so  much  courage  so  many  trials  and 
dangers  for  his  sake,  it  was  but  natural  that  she  should  have 
expected  some  return  on  his  part ;  and,  for  the  moment,  it 
indeed  seemed  as  though  Conde  was  by  no  means  insensible 
to  the  noble  conduct  of  the  princess.  He  came  to  meet  her 
as  far  as  Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois,  near  Montchery,  assured 
her  that  henceforth  he  should  devote  himself  entirely  to  her,  and 
desired  that  she  should  make  a  sort  of  triumphal  entry  into 
Paris  in  his  own  carriage,  and  sitting  by  his  side.  But,  though 
he  was  probably  sincere  enough  at  the  time,  the  supreme  selfish- 
ness of  his  character  rendered  him  incapable  of  any  lasting 
gratitude,  and  very  soon  the  astute  Madame  de  Chatillon  had 
resumed  her  former  empire  over  him,  and  the  poor  princess 
found  herself  almost  as  neglected  as  ever. 

Unlike  his  father,  Conde  did  not  learn  wisdom  from 
adversity.  The  turbulence  of  the  third  Prince  de  Conde  had, 
as  we  have  seen,  been  effectually  cooled  by  the  three  years'  im- 
prisonment he  had  suffered  in  the  early  part  of  the  previous 
reign  ;  but  Louis  de  Bourbon  was  entirely  destitute  of  the 
prudence  which  had  tempered  his  father's  greed  and  ambition. 
His  year  of  confinement  seemed  only  to  have  accentuated  that 
impatience  of  all  control,  that  haughtiness  of  manner,  and  that 
contemptuous  disregard  for  the  feelings  and  opinions  of  others 
which  he  had  always  shown.  Restored  to  liberty,  in  circum- 
stances which  seemed  to  promise  him  an  almost  undisputed 
ascendency,  he  returned  to  Paris  more  than  ever  determined  to 
carry  matters  with  a  high  hand.  But,  to  exercise  the  power 
which  he  desired,  the  maintenance  of  the  alliance  between  the 
Old  Fronde  and  the  party  of  the  Princes,  which  had  opened  his 
prison  doors  and  procured  the  exile  of  Mazarin,  was  essential, 
and  Conde,  though  possessed  of  the  highest  military  gifts,  had 
none  of  the  qualities  necessary  for  successful  political  leadership. 


222       THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF   THE   COND&S 

Anne  of  Austria,  on  the  advice  of  her  exiled  Minister,  with 
whom  she  was  in  constant  communication,  sought  to  break  up 
the  combination  between  the  two  Frondes  by  a  rapprochement 
with  Conde,  and  secret  negotiations  were  accordingly  opened 
with  the  prince.  The  latter,  who  cared  nothing  for  his  new 
allies,  professed  himself  ready  to  give  or  rather  to  sell  his 
support  to  the  Court,  and  even  to  consent  to  the  return  of 
Mazarin  ;  but  the  price  he  demanded  would  have  rendered  him 
the  virtual  sovereign  of  the  South  of  France.  Acting  always  on 
Mazarin's  instructions,  Anne  encouraged  the  belief  that  these 
preposterous  terms  would  eventually  be  accorded,  until  Conde 
had  completely  alienated  the  Old  Fronde,  by  breaking  off  the 
marriage  arranged  between  his  brother  Conti  and  Mile,  de 
Chevreuse,  which  had  been  one  of  the  conditions  of  their 
alliance.  The  Old  Fronde,  indignant  at  the  prince's  bad  faith, 
drew  towards  the  Court,  and,  on  the  night  of  5-6  July,  1651, 
Conde,  in  the  belief  that  his  liberty,  if  not  his  life,  was 
threatened,  fled  to  Saunt-Maur.  Madame  la  Princesse  and  her 
son,  Conti,  Madame  de  Longueville,  and  a  number  of  his 
partisans  followed  him,  and  he  had  soon  "  a  Court  which  was 
not  less  imposing  than  that  of  the  King." 

His  more  prudent  supporters  urged  him  to  be  reconciled  to 
the  Regent,  who  had  sent  to  assure  him  that  his  retreat  had  been 
due  to  an  entire  misapprehension.  But  Madame  de  Longueville 
and  others  were  in  favour  of  an  open  rupture  with  the  Court, 
and  the  prince's  impetuosity  of  character  and  ambitious  views 
inclined  him  to  the  same  course.  However,  he  was  not  yet 
prepared  for  an  armed  struggle  against  the  royal  authority,  and, 
having  despatched  his  wife  and  son  and  Madame  de  Longueville 
to  Montrond,  he  returned  to  Paris  and  entered  into  negotiations 
with  the  Queen.  But  his  demands  were  so  outrageous  and  his 
conduct  so  insolent  that  the  exasperated  Queen  decided  to  trans- 
form without  delay  the  understanding  which  she  had  had  for 
some  weeks  past  with  the  Frondeurs  into  a  definite  alliance,  and 
towards  the  middle  of  August  articles  of  agreement  between  the 
two  parties  were  drawn  up  and  signed. 

Being  now  assured  of  the   co-operation  of  the  Frondeurs, 


CONDE  AND  THE  COURT        223 

Anne  felt  strong  enough  for  an  open  struggle  with  Conde,  and, 
having  engaged  Retz  to  maintain  her  cause  in  the  Parlement, 
she,  on  17  August,  launched  against  the  Prince  a  declaration,  in 
which  she  charged  him  with  ingratitude,  contempt  for  the  royal 
authority,  criminal  alliances  with  the  enemies  of  the  realm,  and 
a  desire  to  subvert  the  State.  These  charges  led  to  violent 
scenes  at  the  Palais  de  Justice,  in  one  of  which  Retz  narrowly 
escaped  being  assassinated  by  some  of  Conde's  friends.  They 
were  not,  however,  pressed ;  indeed,  on  5  September,  the 
Queen,  on  the  mediation  of  Gaston  d'Orleans,  sent  to  the 
Parlement  a  letter  formally  exonerating  the  prince.  But,  under 
the  pretext  of  giving  more  solemnity  to  the  decree,  she  requested 
that  it  should  not  be  promulgated  until  after  the  majority  of 
Louis  XIV.,  which  he  would  attain  on  the  following  day,  on 
completing  his  thirteenth  year,  the  age  fixed  by  the  laws  of 
France  for  the  majority  of  her  kings. 

Conde  excused  himself,  by  letter,  from  assisting  at  the 
proclamation  of  his  Sovereign's  majority,  on  the  ground  that 
his  enemies  had  rendered  him  so  odious  in  his  Majesty's  eyes 
that  he  could  not  be  present  without  danger ;  and  while  the 
King,  in  the  midst  of  a  magnificent  cortege,  was  wending  his 
way  through  the  cheering  crowds  to  the  Palais  de  Justice,  the 
first  Prince  of  the  Blood,  whose  place  should  have  been  by  his 
side,  was  hastening  to  his  brother-in-law's  chateau  of  Trie 
in  Normandy,  with  the  object  of  persuading  the  Due  de 
Longueville  to  join  him  in  resistance  to  the  royal  authority. 
He  came,  however,  on  a  bootless  errand,  for  Longueville,  unlike 
his  consort,  had  had  enough  of  civil  war,  and  declared  that  he 
was  not  in  a  position  to  render  him  any  effective  support. 

From  Trie,  Conde  proceeded  to  Chantilly,  whence  he  sent 
an  envoy  to  Louis  XIV.,  offering  to  return  to  the  capital,  if  the 
changes  in  the  Ministry  which  he  understood  that  it  was  his 
Majesty's  intention  to  make  were  deferred  for  three  days.  But 
the  young  King  haughtily  refused  even  to  consider  this  propo- 
sition. The  prince  thereupon  summoned  a  meeting  of  his 
partisans  at  Chantilly  ;  but,  now  that  he  had  actually  come  to  the 
very  verge  of  the  abyss,  he  found  many  reasons  to  deter  him 


224       THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   COND&S 

from  taking  the  final  step  :  his  reluctance  to  plunge  his  country 
into  the  miseries  of  another  civil  strife  ;  the  many  defections  in 
his  party,  for  to  make  war  on  the  King  of  France  was  a  very 
different  matter  from  resisting  the  will  of  a  Spanish  regent  and 
an  Italian  minister ;  the  danger  of  placing  any  reliance  on  the 
promises  of  help  he  had  received  from  Spain  ;  and,  finally,  the 
knowledge  that  war  would  mean  an  indefinite  separation  from 
Madame  de  Chatillon,  of  whom  he  was  more  than  ever 
enamoured,  and  who,  having  been  gained  by  the  Court,  had 
been  using  all  her  influence  to  bring  her  lover  to  a  more  pacific 
frame  of  mind. 

At  length,  fearing  that,  if  he  remained  longer  at  Chantilly, 
he  might  be  arrested,  he  decided  to  withdraw  to  his  government 
of  Berry,  and  on  13  September  arrived  at  Montrond.  Here, 
two  days  later,  a  final  conference  was  held,  and  the  bellicose 
Madame  de  Longueville  succeeded  in  triumphing  over  her 
brother's  last  scruples.  It  was  then  that  Conde  uttered  the 
prediction  so  often  quoted,  and  which  was  to  prove  so  true  : 
"  You  compel  me  to  draw  the  sword.  Well,  let  it  be  so. 
Remember  that  I  shall  be  the  last  to  replace  it  in  its  scabbard." 


CHAPTER  XVI 

Conde  proceeds  to  Bordeaux,  where  he  is  rejoined  by  his  relatives — He 
opens  the  campaign  with  success,  but  is  soon  obliged  to  remain  on  the 
defensive — Return  of  Mazarin — Conde  on  the  Loire — Battle  of  Bleneau — He 
leaves  his  army  and  proceeds  to  Paris — His  futile  negotiations — Battle  of 
the  Faubourg  Saint-Antoine — Massacre  of  the  Hotel  de  Ville — The  Fronde 
grows  daily  more  discredited — Cond^  quits  Paris  and  joins  the  Spaniards 
on  the  Flemish  frontier — The  Fronde  at  Bordeaux — Sanguinary  affrays 
between  the  Ormte  and  the  Chapeau  Rouge — Courage  and  presence  of  mind 
displayed  by  the  Princesse  de  Condd  and  Madame  de  Longueville  in 
separating  the  combatants — Surrender  of  Bordeaux — The  princess  sails  for 
Flanders  to  rejoin  her  husband — Her  reception  at  Valenciennes — She  is 
cruelly  neglected  by  Conde — She  removes  from  Valenciennes  to  Malines — 
Her  miserable  existence — Condd  applies  to  the  Spanish  Court  for  financial 
assistance — Brilliant  military  qualities  displayed  by  him  in  the  service  of 
his  country's  enemies — The  princess  gives  birth  to  a  daughter — Peace  of  the 
Pyrenees — Return  of  Conde  and  his  wife  to  France. 

THE  fatal  resolution  once  taken,  Conde  acted  with 
his  customary  vigour  and  decision.  He  despatched 
Lenet  to  Madrid  to  conclude  a  treaty  with  Spain  ; 
wrote  to  his  staunch  adherent,  the  Comte  de  Marsin,  who 
commanded  in  Catalonia,  begging  him  to  join  him  in  Guienne 
with  all  the  troops  he  could  induce  to  follow  him,  and  directed 
his  brother  and  sister  and  the  Due  de  Nemours  to  proceed  to 
Bourges  and  endeavour  to  incite  that  town  and  the  whole  of 
Berry  to  revolt.  Then,  accompanied  by  La  Rochefoucauld,  he 
set  out  for  Bordeaux,  which  he  had  resolved  to  make  his  head- 
quarters. 

Conde  was  received  at  Bordeaux  with  transports  of  joy,  and 
the  town  and  the  greater  part  of  the  province  at  once  rose  in 
revolt.  But  Madame  de  Longueville  and  Conti  failed  entirely 
in  the  task  entrusted  to  them,  and,  on  the  approach  of  the  royal 
army,  were  obliged  to  retire  to  Montrond,  where  Madame  la 


226       THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS    OF  THE   COND&S 

Princesse  and  her  son  had  remained,  and  subsequently  to  Bor- 
deaux. A  much  more  severe  blow  to  the  prince's  cause  was  the 
defection  of  Turenne,  upon  whose  support  he  had  confidently 
counted,  but  who,  together  with  his  brother,  the  Due  de  Bouillon, 
had  decided  to  throw  in  his  lot  with  the  Court.  Nevertheless, 
he  resolved  to  take  the  offensive,  and  for  a  while  carried  all 
before  him  in  the  South-West.  But  his  forces  were  much  inferior 
in  number  to  the  Royalists,  and  by  the  end  of  the  year  he  was 
obliged  to  fall  back  to  the  Garonne. 

The  sudden  reappearance  of  Mazarin  upon  the  scene  in  the 
following  January  reanimated  the  hopes  of  the  prince,  and  ap- 
peared to  give  new  strength  to  his  party.  The  Parlement,  which, 
on  4  December,  had  issued  a  decree  proclaiming  Monsieur  le 
Prince  and  his  principal  adherents  "attainted  and  convicted  of 
high  treason  and  lese-majesty"  now  voted  that  this  sentence  should 
be  suspended  and  renewed  its  old  decrees  against  the  Cardinal. 
Gaston  d'Orleans,  with  whom  the  prince  had  been  for  some  time 
past  negotiating,  believing  that  he  had  been  the  dupe  of  the 
Queen,  concluded  an  alliance  with  him,  and,  shortly  afterwards, 
most  of  the  Frondeurs  also  declared  for  Conde. 

Towards  the  end  of  March,  Conde,  having  entrusted  the 
government  of  Guienne  to  his  brother,  Conti,  assisted  by  a 
council  composed  of  Madame  la  Princesse,  Madame  de  Longue- 
ville,  Lenet,  Marsin,  and  the  President  Viole,  set  out  to  take 
command  of  the  Frondeurs  on  the  Loire.  After  an  adventurous 
journey,  in  which  he  only  escaped  capture  by  a  miracle,  he 
reached  the  army  in  safety,  and  falling  upon  the  division  of  the 
royal  forces  commanded  by  Hocquincourt,  completely  routed  it. 
But  his  attack  on  Turenne's  position  failed,  and,  shortly  after- 
wards, he  quitted  his  army  and  set  out  for  Paris,  with  the  object 
of  inducing  the  capital  to  espouse  his  cause.  Here,  he  found  his 
beloved  Madame  de  Chatillon,  and,  largely  through  her  influence, 
"allowed  himself  to  be  drawn  into  an  abyss  of  negotiations  of 
which  one  never  saw  the  bottom."  1  These  negotiations  led  to 
no  result,  and,  in  the  absence  of  their  chief,  the  Frondeur  army 
suffered  a  severe  reverse  at  £tampes,  where  it  was  suddenly 
1  La  Rochefoucauld,  "  Memoires." 


END   OF  THE   PARIS  FRONDE  227 

attacked  by  Turenne.  Nor  did  he  secure  the  adhesion  of  the 
capital,  for,  though  the  populace  espoused  his  cause,  the  better- 
class  citizens  stood  aloof. 

At  length,  at  the  end  of  June,  Conde,  comprehending  the 
fatal  error  he  had  committed  in  leaving  the  field  to  engage  in 
futile  intrigues,  and  of  having  preferred  the  counsels  of  an 
avaricious  mistress1  to  those  of  his  best  friends,  left  Paris  to 
resume  the  command  of  his  weakened  and  disheartened  forces. 
It  was  too  late.  Forced  back  upon  Paris  by  superior  numbers, 
he  was  obliged  to  fight  the  bloody  combat  of  the  Faubourg  Saint- 
Antoine,  which  would  probably  have  ended  in  the  total  destruc- 
tion of  the  rebel  army,  had  not  la  Grande  Mademoiselle,  by  dint 
of  tears  and  supplications,  wrested  an  order  from  her  irresolute 
father  to  open  the  gates  to  the  hard-pressed  Frondeurs  and  for 
the  cannon  of  the  Bastille  to  cover  their  retreat  (2  July). 

Two  days  later,  a  ferocious  mob,  among  which  are  said  to 
have  been  many  of  Conde's  soldiers,  disguised  as  artisans, 
attacked  the  Hotel  de  Ville,  where  some  three  hundred  delegates 
from  the  clergy,  magistracy,  and  the  various  parishes  were 
assembled  in  conclave,  murdered  several  of  them,  and  set  the 
building  on  fire.  This  atrocious  act,  worthy  of  the  worst  days 
of  the  League,  had  the  effect  of  terrifying  the  city  into  sub- 
mission to  Conde,  but,  at  the  same  time,  proved  the  death-blow 
of  the  Fronde,  since  all  save  the  refuse  of  the  people  were  filled 
with  horror  and  loathing  for  a  party  which  sought  to  compass 
its  ends  by  such  means.  Every  day  saw  the  prince's  followers 
falling  away  from  him  and  the  desire  for  peace  growing 
stronger ;  and  the  skilful  effacement  of  Mazarin,  who,  on 
19  August,  left  Pontoise  and  retired  into  a  second  and 
voluntary  exile  at  Bouillon,  and  afterwards  at  Sedan,  removed 
the  only  pretext  for  continuing  the  war.  Conde  attempted  to 
negotiate,  but  was  informed  that  no  proposal  from  him  would 
be  considered  until  he  had  laid  down  his  arms,  disbanded  his 
troops,  and  renounced  his  alliance  with  Spain  ;  and,  at  length, 

1  In  his  negotiations  with  the  Court,  Madame  de  Chatillon  had  persuaded  Conde  to 
stipulate  that  her  services  in  the  cause  of  peace  and  concord  should  be  recognized  by 
a  gratification  of  100,000  ecus. 


228       THE  LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   COND&S 

on  13  October,  disdaining  to  accept  the  general  amnesty  which 
had  been  proclaimed,  but  finding  his  position  in  the  capital  no 
longer  tenable,  he   left  Paris  with  the   few  troops  which  still 
remained   faithful   to   him  and  joined   the   Spaniards   on   the 
Flemish   frontier.     A   week   later,    Louis   XIV.  and  Anne   of 
Austria  made  their  entry  into  the  city  amid  general  rejoicings, 
and  in  the  following  February  Mazarin  returned  in  triumph,  to 
remain  until  the  hour  of  his  death  the  absolute  ruler  of  France. 
The  Fronde  of  Bordeaux  survived  the  Fronde  in  Paris  by 
nearly  ten  months.     Its  chief  feature  was  the  bitter  struggle 
between  the  advanced  and  moderate  parties  among  the  citizens. 
The   former,  recruited   from   the   lower  middle-class   and   the 
populace,  desired  to  carry  on  the  war  a  outrance,  and  was  quite 
ready  for  an  alliance  with  Spain,  England,  or  half  Europe  for 
that  matter.     Its  most  violent  spirits   held    republican  views, 
which  had  been   fostered   by  recent  events   in    England,  and, 
imitating   the    League   or    anticipating   the   Jacobins,   formed 
themselves   into   a   regular   society,  called,  from   its    favourite 
place   of  assembly — a   little  terrace  bordered  by  elms  in  the 
environs   of  the   town — the    Ormee,   and   persecuted   with   the 
utmost   virulence    all   whom    they    suspected    of    hostility   to 
the   popular   cause.     The   latter,    which    comprised    the   great 
majority  of  the  better-class  citizens,  though  hostile  in  general  to 
the  Court   and  Mazarin,  were  desirous  of  keeping  the  insur- 
rectionary movement  within  bounds,  and  looked  with  marked 
disapproval  on  Conde's  negotiations  with  Spain.     To  resist  the 
tyranny  of  the  Ormde,  they  organized  themselves  into  a  kind  of 
aristocratic   league,   which   was   called,    from    the    fashionable 
quarter  of  the  town,  the  Chapeau  Rouge.     Sanguinary  encounters 
between  the  two  factions  were  of  frequent  occurrence,  and,  but 
for  the  courage  and  presence  of  mind  of  the  Princesse  de  Conde 
and   Madame   de   Longueville,   who,    at    great    personal   risk, 
repeatedly  intervened   to  separate  the   infuriated  combatants, 
Bordeaux  would  have  become  a  shambles. 

On  one  occasion,  we  read  that  Madame  la  Princesse ;  "fort 
allumie  de  colere,"  vowed  that  the  next  time  there  was  a  breach 
of  the  peace,  she  would,  notwithstanding  that   she  was  with 


TWO   COURAGEOUS   PRINCESSES  229 

child,1  place  herself  at  the  head  of  those  who  obeyed  her,  and 
cause  the  offenders  to  be  cut  to  pieces.2  Scarcely,  however,  had 
she  and  Madame  de  Longueville  withdrawn,  than  the  Ormistes, 
undismayed  by  this  terrible  threat,  stormed  the  Hotel  de  Ville 
and  held  it  throughout  the  night.  In  the  morning,  flushed  with 
success,  they  marched  in  great  force  upon  the  Quartier  du 
Chapeau  Rouge,  and  attacked  the  house  of  a  certain  M.  Pichon, 
a  president  of  the  Parlement,  who  appears  to  have  been  the 
object  of  their  peculiar  animosity.  Unhappily  for  them,  M. 
Pichon  had  received  warning  of  their  intentions,  and  had  taken 
the  precaution  to  convert  his  residence  into  a  kind  of  fortress, 
from  which  a  withering  fire  of  musketry  was  opened  on  the 
besiegers.  Exasperated  by  their  losses,  the  Ormistes  proceeded 
to  storm  and  set  fire  to  the  neighbouring  houses ;  reinforce- 
ments came  up  rapidly  on  both  sides,  and  it  seemed  as  though 
the  whole  town  would  be  delivered  up  to  fire  and  blood. 
So  fierce  was  the  fighting  that  it  appeared  hopeless  for  the 
princesses  to  intervene  ;  but,  at  length,  they  bethought  themselves 
of  a  happy  expedient.  Hastening  to  the  cure  of  the  Church  of 
Saint-Messan,  they  ordered  him  to  accompany  them  to  the 
scene  of  the  fray,  bearing  the  Holy  Sacrament,  preceded  by  the 
cross  and  candles.  The  cortige  advanced  into  the  very  midst  of 
the  combatants,  who  desisted,  vanquished  by  the  courage  and 
presence  of  mind  of  these  young  women. 

On  23  July,  1653,  Bordeaux  surrendered  on  honourable 
terms,  the  troops  which  Marsin  had  brought  from  Catalonia 
being  permitted  to  join  Conde\  and  a  full  pardon  being  granted 
to  the  inhabitants,  with  the  exception  of  the  leaders  of  the 
Ormee,  one  of  whom  was  executed. 

The  most  generous  offers  were  made  by  Mazarin  to  Madame 
la  Princesse,  on  condition  that  she  should  remain  in  France 
and  separate  her  interests  from  those  of  her  husband.  But, 
ever  constant  to  her  duty,  Claire-Clemence  declined  them,  and 

1  In  the  night  of  19-20  September,  1652,  the  Princesse  de  Conde  gave  birth  to  a 
son.  The  little  prince,  who  was  baptized  Louis  de  Bordeaux  and  received  the  title 
of  Due  de  Bourbon,  only  lived  a  few  weeks. 

'•'  Lenet,  "  Memoires." 


230       THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   COND&S 

announced  her  intention  of  rejoining  Conde.  On  3  August, 
accompanied  by  the  Due  d'Enghien  and  the  faithful  Lenet,  she 
sailed  for  Flanders  on  board  a  Spanish  ship-of-war.  Her 
health  had  been  so  much  affected  by  the  trials  and  anxieties  of 
the  last  few  months  that  her  physicians  assured  her  that  she 
would  not  survive  the  voyage  ;  but,  happily,  these  gloomy 
prognostications  were  not  realized,  and  on  26  August  she  landed 
safely  at  Dunkerque.  Thence  she  journeyed  slowly,  by  way  of 
Nieuport,  Bruges,  Ghent,  and  Oudenarde,  to  Valenciennes, 
where,  by  her  husband's  orders,  she  took  up  her  residence. 

By  order  of  the  Viceroy  of  the  Netherlands,  she  was 
received  everywhere  with  royal  honours  and  the  most  splendid 
hospitality.  At  Valenciennes,  the  governor,  the  municipal 
authorities,  and  all  the  nobility  of  the  surrounding  country, 
came  to  pay  her  homage,  and  to  compliment  her  on  her  heroic 
Odyssey  from  Bordeaux.  The  Viceroy  did  everything  in  his 
power  to  amuse  her,  and  sent  from  Brussels  a  company  of 
actors,  who  gave  before  the  illustrious  exile  a  series  of  per- 
formances, in  a  theatre  constructed  specially  for  the  occasion. 

The  consideration  and  sympathy  with  which  strangers  were 
so  eager  to  surround  the  princess  presented  a  striking  contrast 
to  the  coldness  and  indifference  of  her  husband.  After  all  that 
she  had  done  and  suffered  for  his  sake,  she  might  well  have 
expected  to  receive  from  him  some  proof  of  affection,  or  at 
least,  of  respect.  But  for  eight  months  after  her  arrival  he 
never  once  condescended  to  visit  her,  and,  to  add  to  the  morti- 
fication which  she  must  have  felt,  he  deprived  her  of  her  son, 
who  had  never  yet  left  her,  whom  he  sent  to  the  Jesuit  College 
at  Namur.  At  last,  at  the  end  of  June,  1654,  he  sent  orders  to 
her  to  meet  him  at  Mons.  They  passed  one  night  together  at 
an  inn  in  the  town,  and  on  the  morrow  separated  again,  the 
husband  proceeding  to  Brussels  and  the  army,  the  wife  returning 
to  Valenciennes. 

At  the  beginning  of  September,  the  approach  of  the  French 
obliged  Madame  la  Princesse  to  quit  Valenciennes  and  seek 
another  asylum.  She  chose  Malines,  where  she  installed  herself 
at  the  Hotel  Hoogstratin.     In  spite  of  the  fine  promises  which 


CRUEL   STRAITS   OF   MME.   LA   FRINCESSE     231 

had  been  made  by  the  Viceroy,  she  did  not  receive  any  assist- 
ance from  the  Government  and  soon  found  herself  in  terrible 
straits.  The  meagre  sums  sent  her  at  rare  intervals  by  Conde, 
who  was  himself  in  scarcely  better  case,  were  quite  insufficient 
to  defray  the  expenses  of  her  Household,  and  she  was  obliged 
to  dismiss  the  greater  number  of  her  attendants  and  to  dispose 
successively  of  the  few  jewels  she  had  kept,  less  for  their  value 
than  for  the  associations  connected  with  them,  of  her  horses 
and  carriages,  and,  finally,  of  part  of  her  wardrobe.  Sometimes 
she  and  her  servants  were  even  in  need  of  food,  for  her  maitre 
<T  hotel  had  the  greatest  difficulty  in  obtaining  credit  from  the 
humble  tradesmen  of  the  town. 

The  princess  continued  this  wretched  existence  for  several 
years.  She  rarely  saw  her  son,  but  received  occasional  visits 
from  her  husband,  an  honour  for  which  she  seems  to  have  been 
indebted  to  the  fact  that  Conde  was  no  longer  able  to  spend 
his  leisure  at  Brussels,  where  he  was  in  debt  to  every  one. 
"  I  am  in  such  disrepute  with  the  tradesmen,"  he  writes,  under 
date  28  October,  1655,  to  the  Comte  de  Fiesque,  his  envoy  at 
Madrid,  "  that  they  look  upon  me  as  a  bankrupt.  I  borrow  in 
every  direction,  and  I  pay  no  one  back."  And,  a  month  later : 
"  I  doubt  if  I  shall  dare  to  return  to  Brussels,  on  account  of 
the  multitude  of  creditors  of  all  kinds  whom  I  have  there.  .  .  . 
My  wife  and  my  son  are  accustoming  themselves  to  live  on  air." 
When,  on  2  January,  1656,  Conde  arrived  at  Malines,  he 
found  his  unfortunate  wife  without  a  fire  in  her  room,  and 
learned  that  the  exasperated  landlady  of  the  inn  had  just 
caused  the  princess's  maitre  cThotel  to  be  thrown  into  prison. 
Moved  with  pity,  despite  his  egoism,  by  the  wretched  condition 
to  which  his  conduct  had  reduced  this  courageous  and  devoted 
woman,  he  humbled  his  pride  sufficiently  to  write  to  Don 
Luis  de  Haro,  Prime  Minister  of  Spain,  to  demand  assistance. 
"  Finally,  Monsieur,"  he  writes,  "  I  beg  your  Excellency  to 
consider  that  without  prompt  pecuniary  assistance  it  will  be 
impossible  for  me  to  continue  my  services  to  the  King  with 
honour  and  usefulness.  ...  I  beg  you  to  inform  me  what  his 
Catholic  Majesty  wishes  me  to  become  ;  for,  so  long  as  I  have 


232       THE  LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   CONDfiS 

no  money,  as  my  troops  are  without  recruits  and  without 
remounts,  as  my  general-officers  are  without  a  sol,  as  my  for- 
tresses are  dismantled,  as  all  my  friends  are  in  poverty,  as  I 
myself,  my  wife,  and  my  son  are  in  a  continual  beggary,  I 
cannot  be  capable  of  rendering  service  to  his  Majesty  in  such  a 
condition." 1 

Cond6  certainly  had  every  claim  upon  the  gratitude  of  the 
Spanish  Court,  for  in  the  service  of  the  enemies  of  his  country 
he  displayed  the  most  rare  qualities.  As  a  general,  he  com- 
pelled the  admiration  of  all  by  his  courage,  energy,  and  fore- 
sight. His  masterly  retreat  on  Mons,  after  the  raising  of  the 
siege  of  Arras,  whereby  he  saved  the  routed  Spaniards  from 
complete  destruction,  must  rank  as  one  of  his  finest  feats  of 
arms,  and  scarcely  less  brilliant  were  his  relief  of  Cambrai  and 
the  manner  in  which  he  forced  Turenne's  lines  before  Valen- 
ciennes. Badly  seconded  by  the  Spanish  Government,  who 
furnished  him  neither  with  subsidies  nor  capable  generals,  he 
was  obliged  to  give  his  personal  attention  to  everything.  He 
superintended  the  recruiting  of  his  armies,  their  provisioning, 
their  encampments,  descended  even  to  the  most  trifling  details, 
and  led  the  life  of  the  soldier,  sharing  his  privations  that  he 
might  communicate  to  him  his  energy. 

As  the  result  of  the  visit  paid  by  Conde  to  Malines  at  the 
beginning  of  1656,  in  the  following  spring  Madame  la  Princesse 
found  herself  again  in  an  interesting  condition.  The  approach 
of  this  event  added  to  the  poor  woman's  anxieties,  for  she 
could  not  but  feel  many  misgivings  as  to  the  fate  reserved  for  a 
child  to  be  born  in  exile,  the  offspring  of  a  rebel  prince,  who  had 
been  deprived,  by  a  decree  of  the  Parlement,  even  of  the  name 
of  Bourbon.  She  was,  besides,  much  disquieted  by  the  prospect 
of  the  privations  which  it  might  be  required  to  face  at  Malines, 
in  that  inn  where  she  was  reduced  to  live  so  miserably.  She 
accordingly  took  counsel  with  the  faithful  Lenet,  and,  on  his 
advice,  decided  to  petition  Louis  XIV.  and  Mazarin  for  per- 
mission to  return  to  France,  and,  at  the  same  time,  to  appeal  to 
the  Parlement  of  Paris  and  her  relatives  to  make  intercession 

1  Archives  de  Chantilly,  cited  by  the  Due  d'Aumale, 


PEACE   OF  THE   PYRENEES  233 

on  her  behalf.  But  the  touching  letters  which  she  addressed  to 
the  King  and  the  Minister  were  without  result ;  she  was  merely 
informed  that  circumstances  did  not  lend  themselves  to  her 
return  to  France,  and  her  only  resource  was  to  have  a  protest 
drawn  up  by  Flemish  lawyers,  "  in  order  that  her  accouchement 
out  of  France  might  not  be  laid  to  her  charge,  nor  prejudice 
the  child  which  would  be  born  of  her  pregnancy." 

In  November,  1656,  the  Princesse  de  Conde*  gave  birth, 
contrary  to  all  her  hopes,  to  a  daughter,  who  was  baptized 
Louise.  While  this  little  girl  was  still  only  a  few  months  old, 
Jeanne  Baptiste  de  Bourbon,  Abbess  of  Fontevrault,  wrote  to 
Conde,  offering  her  the  succession  to  her  abbey.  The  prince 
thanked  the  abbess  for  her  good  intentions,  but  suggested  that 
it  would  be  preferable  to  wait  for  better  times,  and  that  it  was, 
besides,  rather  early  to  make  his  daughter  a  nun.  The  little 
princess  did  not  assume  the  cross  and  mitre,  since  she  died 
before  she  was  three  years  old. 

The  campaign  of  1657,  which  opened  with  Conde's  brilliant 
relief  of  Cambrai,  closed  with  the  loss  of  Mardyke  and  other 
places,  for  the  incurable  indolence  of  the  Spanish  generals 
hampered  the  prince  at  every  turn.  England  had  now  formed  an 
alliance  with  France,  and,  in  the  following  year,  the  Spaniards, 
having,  against  the  advice  of  Conde,  marched  against  the  allies, 
who  were  besieging  Dunkerque,  sustained  a  crushing  defeat  in 
the  battle  of  the  Dunes.  This  disaster,  followed  by  the  capitu- 
lation of  Dunkerque  and  the  invasion  of  Flanders  by  Turenne, 
decided  Philip  IV.  to  make  peace  ;  and,  on  24  November,  1657, 
the  Treaty  of  the  Pyrenees  brought  the  long  war  to  a  close. 

It  closed  also  the  exile  and  disgrace  of  Conde,  who,  thanks 
to  the  firmness  of  Spain,  was  not  only  permitted  to  return  to 
France,  but  re-established  in  possession  of  all  his  property, 
honours  and  dignities,  with  the  exception  of  the  governments 
of  Guienne  and  Berry,  and  the  charge  of  Grand  Master  of  the 
King's  Household,  which  he  was  to  surrender  to  the  Due 
d'Enghien,  retaining,  however,  the  reversion  of  the  post.  In 
return  for  Philip  IV.'s  cession  of  Jiilich  to  the  Duke  of  Neuburg 
and  of  the  fortress  of  Avesnes  to  France,  Louis  XIV.  conferred 


234       THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE  COND&S 

upon  Conde  the  government  of  Burgundy  and  Bresse,  of  the 
chateau  of  Dijon,  and  of  Saint-Jean-de-Losne ;  and,  as  com- 
pensation for  the  duchy  of  Albret,  which  he  had  given  to  the 
Due  de  Bouillon,  he  invested  him  with  that  of  the  Bourbonnais. 
This  last  arrangement  restored  to  this  branch  of  the  Royal 
House  of  France  the  title  of  Due  de  Bourbon,  by  which  three 
of  the  later  Princes  de  Conde*  preferred  to  be  known. 

In  return,  nothing  was  demanded  of  the  rebellious  prince, 
except  that  he  should  disband  his  forces  within  two  months, 
and  declare  his  intention  "  to  make  reparation  for  the  past  by 
an  entire  obedience  to  all  the  commands  of  his  Sovereign  "  in  a 
letter  which  he  was  to  write  to  his  Majesty.  Early  in  December, 
this  missive  reached  Toulouse,  where  the  Court  then  was,  and, 
on  the  29th  of  the  same  month,  Conde,  accompanied  by  the 
Due  d'Enghien,  quitted  Brussels  and  set  out  for  France. 
Madame  la  Princesse  followed,  after  a  short  interval,  with  the 
little  Mile,  de  Bourbon.  She,  at  least,  was  able  to  return  to  her 
native  land  without  bitterness  and  without  remorse,  since  she 
had  only  acted  in  accordance  with  what  she  believed  to  be  her 
duty  to  her  husband. 


CHAPTER   XVII 

Arrival  of  Condd  at  the  Court — His  reception — He  returns  to  Paris — • 
His  ingratitude  towards  his  wife — Dignified  behaviour  of  Madame  la 
Princesse— Affectionate  relations  between  Condd  and  his  son — Indifference 
of  the  young  prince  towards  his  mother — Marriage  of  the  Due  d'Enghien 
and  Anne  of  Bavaria — The  affair  of  Poland — Conde's  conquest  of  Franche- 
Comtd — The  mind  of  the  Princesse  de  Condd  becomes  affected — The  foot- 
man Duval — Mysterious  affair  at  the  Hotel  de  Condd  :  the  princess  is 
wounded  in  a  brawl  between  Duval  and  the  Comte  de  Bussy-Rabutin — 
Singular  attitude  of  Monsieur  le  Pri?ice — Trial  of  Duval — Calumnies  against 
the  Princesse  de  Condd  :  letter  of  Madame  de  Sevignd — The  princess  is 
exiled  to  the  Chateau  of  Chateauroux,  in  Berry — Her  departure  :  a  touching 
scene — Her  captivity — Her  hallucinations — Visit  of  Pere  Tixier. 

ON  4  January,  1660,  Conde*  arrived  at  Coulommiers, 
whither  the  Due  and  Duchesse  de  Longueville  had 
come  to  welcome  him.  After  remaining  there  a  week, 
the  princess  and  her  little  daughter,  who  had  joined  her  the 
day  after  her  arrival,  set  out  for  Trie ;  the  Due  d'Enghien  was 
sent  to  Augerville,  to  the  house  of  the  President  Perrault,  a 
partisan  of  Monsieur  le  Prince,  who  had  himself  recently 
returned  from  exile  ;  while  Conde,  accompanied  by  his  brother- 
in-law,  continued  his  journey  to  Aix,  in  Provence,  where  the 
Court  then  was,  to  salute  the  King.  At  Lambesc,  they  were 
met  by  the  Prince  de  Conti,  who,  after  the  surrender  of 
Bordeaux,  had  made  his  peace  with  the  Court  and  espoused  one 
of  Mazarin's  nieces,  the  beautiful  and  virtuous  Anne  Marie 
Martinozzi.  Conti  must  have  felt  a  little  uneasy  as  to  the 
reception  he  was  likely  to  meet  with  from  the  brother  whose 
cause  he  had  abandoned.  However,  Conde  greeted  him 
affectionately,  and,  though  the  intimacy  which  had  once  existed 
between  them  was  never  renewed,  they  remained  on  friendly 
terms. 

235 


236       THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   COND&S 

On  27  January,  Monsieur  le  Prince  reached  Aix  and  went 
at  once  to  visit  Mazarin,  to  whom,  since  the  Peace  of  the 
Pyrenees,  he  had  written  several  "  rather  civil "  letters.  The 
interview  between  the  two  old  enemies,  though  necessarily 
somewhat  constrained,  passed  off  satisfactorily  enough.  Conde 
recognized  that  the  Cardinal  was  now  far  too  firmly  seated 
in  the  saddle  ever  to  be  dislodged,  while  Mazarin  felt  that 
he  could  afford  to  be  magnanimous.  At  its  conclusion  the 
prince  was  "  introduced  into  the  Queen's  chamber,  where 
he  presented  his  respects  to  their  Majesties." l  The  memoirs 
of  the  time, — even  those  of  la  Grande  Mademoiselle,  who  does 
not  conceal  her  chagrin  at  not  having  been  able  to  learn 
anything — are  silent  regarding  this  interview,  which  lasted 
more  than  an  hour.  No  one  seems  to  know  what  passed,  but 
all  are  agreed  that,  when  it  was  over,  the  Prince  de  Conde 
appeared  to  be  as  much  at  his  ease  at  Court  as  if  he  had  never 
left  it. 

The  following  evening  the  prince  supped  with  Mazarin,  who 
entertained  him  magnificently,  and  who,  a  few  days  later,  in 
writing  to  Lenet,  spoke  in  the  warmest  terms  of  their  "friend- 
ship and  cordial  relations." 

But,  if  the  past  were  forgiven,  it  could  not  be  forgotten, 
at  least  until  time  had  enabled  the  prince  to  show  that  he  was 
sincere  in  his  professions  of  fidelity  to  his  Sovereign.  Conde, 
recognizing  this,  did  not  prolong  his  stay  at  the  Court,  and  on 
4  February  he  set  out  for  Paris,  where  he  was  soon  rejoined  by 
his  wife.  In  the  capital  he  met  with  a  most  cordial  reception  ; 
the  Parlement  and  the  other  Courts  presented  him  with  an 
address  of  welcome  ;  all  Paris  hastened  to  follow  their  example  ; 
and  the  Hotel  de  Conde,  so  long  deserted,  was  for  some  weeks 
the  centre  of  animation. 

It  was  in  this  splendid  residence  which  she  had  not  entered 
since  the  death  of  her  mother-in-law,  ten  years  before,  that  a 
fresh  and  final  disillusion  awaited  the  long-suffering  wife  of  the 
Great  Conde.  On  her  return  from  exile,  Claire-Clemence 
might  well  have  believed  that  a  new  life  was  about  to  begin  for 

1  "  Gazette  de  France,"  January,  1660. 


TEMPORA  MUTANTUR  237 

her — a  life  in  which  she  would  be  restored  both  to  her  place  in 
Society  and  in  her  husband's  house,  and  receive  (abundant 
compensation  for  all  the  hardships  and  humiliations  which  she 
had  experienced.  Under  what  immense  obligations  had  she 
not  placed  her  husband  !  Twice  within  two  years  she  had 
brilliantly  played  the  role  of  a  party  leader.  At  the  peril  of 
her  life  she  had  traversed  the  seas  to  bring  him  his  son  and  to 
take  her  place  by  his  side,  and  for  long  years  had  uncomplain- 
ingly endured  all  the  bitterness  of  poverty  and  exile.  Was  it 
conceivable  that  a  man  could  fail  to  be  touched  by  so  much 
courage,  so  much  devotion  ?  Was  it  conceivable  that,  now  that 
it  was  in  his  power  to  show  his  appreciation  of  all  that  she  had 
suffered  for  his  sake,  he  should  not  hasten  to  take  advantage  of 
the  opportunity  ? 

And  the  changes  which;had  taken  place  since  their  departure 
from  France  seemed  to  favour  a  better  understanding  between 
husband  and  wife.  To  "  le  temps  de  la  bonne  rigence"  1  that  era 
of  facile  and  romantic  gallantry,  had  succeeded  one  of  regularity, 
order,  and  outward  decorum,  revealing  a  profound  change  in  taste 
and  morals.  Of  the  salons  which  had  been  so  much  frequented 
before  the  Fronde,  some  were  already  nothing  but  a  memory ; 
others  retained  the  merest  shade  of  their  former  reputation. 
Condc's  old  entourage  no  longer  existed  ;  the  band  of  pretty 
women  whom  his  sister  had  gathered  round  her,  and  among 
whom  he  had  moved  as  a  kind  of  demi-god,  was  dispersed. 
Madame  de  Longueville  herself  had  turned  devote,  and  divided 
her  time  between  her  husband  and  children  and  her  religious 
duties.  Madame  de  Chatillon  had  found  a  second  husband  in 
the  Duke  of  Mecklenburg,  and,  though  she  was  still  residing  in 
France,  she  seemed  more  anxious  to  secure  his  intervention  in 
her  lawsuits  and  her  conjugal  difficulties  than  to  pick  up  the 
thread  of  their  interrupted  intrigue. 

Besides,  Conde  himself  was  no  longer  the  dashing  cavalier 

1  "  J'ai  vu  le  temps  de  la  bonne  regence, 

Temps  oil  regnait  une  heureuse  abondancc, 
Temps  oil  ia  villc  aussi  bien  que  la  cour 
Ne  respirait  que  les  jeux  el  l'amour." 

Saint-Evremond,  "Stances  a  Ninon." 


238       THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF   THE   COND&S 

of  former  times.  Never  very  robust,  his  health  had  been 
severely  tried  by  the  fatigues  of  so  many  years  of  active  service  ; 
and  already  he  was  beginning  to  suffer  from  those  attacks  of 
gout  which  were  to  be  the  torment  of  his  old  age.  Now,  on  the 
threshold  of  his  fortieth  year,  weary  and  disillusioned,  it  seemed 
but  natural  that  he  should  seek  solace  for  his  hardships  and  his 
thwarted  ambition  in  the  society  of  his  wife  and  children. 

Conde  had  too  much  family  pride  to  neglect  his  duties 
towards  his  son,  but,  notwithstanding  all  the  claims  which  she 
had  upon  his  consideration,  his  behaviour  towards  his  wife 
showed  no  improvement.  It  was,  indeed,  more  cold  and  distant 
than  ever.  In  the  winter,  which  he  generally  passed  in  Paris, 
he  and  the  princess  each  had  their  apartments  under  the  same 
roof ;  they  were  seen  together  at  State  ceremonies  ;  on  great 
occasions,  it  was  the  latter  who  did  the  honours  of  the  H6tel  de 
Conde.  But  in  the  summer,  Claire-Clemence  never  appeared 
at  Chantilly,  where  Monsieur  le  Prince  was  accustomed  to 
gather  round  him  all  the  celebrities  of  the  time,  save  on  the 
rare  occasions  when  her  presence  was  formally  requested  ;  soon 
she  ceased  to  come  there  at  all.  Apart  from  attendance 
at  official  ceremonies  and  occasional  visits  to  Saint-Maur, 
accompanied  by  a  few  persons  of  her  suite,  she  seldom  left  the 
Hotel  de  Conde,  and  led  almost  as  retired  a  life  as  she  had 
formerly  passed  among  the  Carmelites  of  the  Faubourg  Saint- 
Jacques.  For  the  last  and  cruel  disillusion  which  she  had 
experienced  had  deprived  her  of  all  desire  to  mingle  with  the 
gay  world  around  her.  Too  proud  and  too  generous  to  complain, 
she  gave  as  an  explanation  of  her  retirement  the  cares  which 
her  delicate  health  imposed,  and  the  dignity  of  her  behaviour 
gained  for  her  the  admiration  and  sympathy  of  all  who 
penetrated  the  secret  of  this  princely  menage. 

But  Conde's  neglect  was  not  the  only  trial  which  the  poor 
princess  had  to  endure.  In  the  early  years  of  her  married  life, 
she  had  been  able  to  find  some  consolation  for  her  husband's 
indifference  in  the  affection  of  her  son,  the  Due  d'Enghien, 
whom  she  had  kept  constantly  with  her  and  to  whom  she  was 
passionately  devoted.     But  the  boy,  as  we  have  mentioned,  had 


AN'NK   OF   BAVARIA,    DUCHESSK    D'ENC.HIKN 

FROM  AN  ENGRAVING  BY  MONCOR.NET 


THE   DUC   D'ENGHIEN  239 

been  separated  from  his  mother  soon  after  their  arrival  in 
Flanders,  and  sent  to  the  Jesuit  College  at  Antwerp,  since 
which  time  she  had  only  seen  him  at  long  intervals.  Monsieur 
le  Prince,  on  the  other  hand,  had  superintended  his  son's 
education,  and,  as  the  lad  grew  older,  he  spent  more  and  more 
of  his  time  with  his  father,  for  whom  he  soon  conceived  the 
warmest  admiration  and  affection  ;  while  Conde\  on  his  side, 
was  tenderly  attached  to  his  son.  Unhappily,  these  pleasant 
relations  were  established  at  the  cost  of  the  princess  ;  for  the  little 
consideration  which  his  father,  who  could  do  no  wrong  in  his 
eyes,  showed  for  his  mother  was  naturally  not  without  its  effect 
upon  Enghien,  and  gradually  the  affection  which  as  a  boy  he 
had  entertained  for  the  latter  was  replaced  by  the  most  complete 
indifference. 

Almost  as  soon  as  he  re-entered  France,  Conde  began 
to  occupy  himself  with  matrimonial  projects  on  behalf  of  his 
son.  If  we  are  to  believe  la  Grand  Mademoiselle,  overtures 
were  made  to  her,  and  the  Due  d'Enghien  was  "  ardently 
desirous  for  this  marriage,  and  very  assiduous  in  his  attentions 
to  her."  The  princess,  however,  excused  herself,  "on  the 
ground  of  the  great  disparity  of  age  between  herself  and  the 
duke,"  though  she  informs  us,  in  her  "  Memoires,"  that  it  was  her 
suitor's  "  want  of  merit,"  and  his  "  base  mind,"  to  which  she 
objected. 

No  difficulty  would,  however,  have  presented  itself  had  Conde 
been  willing  for  his  son  to  marry  Mademoiselle  s  half-sister, 
Mile.  d'Alencon.  Madame  la  Princesse  was  very  anxious  for 
this  alliance,  as  were  several  of  the  prince's  counsellors  ;  but 
Conde  had  other  views  for  his  heir,  and  had  determined  to 
marry  him  to  Anne  of  Bavaria,  second  daughter  of  Edward 
of  Bavaria,  Prince  Palatine,  and  of  Anne  de  Gonzague,  sister 
of  the  Queen  of  Poland.1 

His  reason  for  preferring  an  alliance  with  a  foreign  princess 
of  the  second  rank  and  of  little  fortune  to  one  which  would 
have  strengthened  the  position  of  the  Condes,  by  uniting  them 

1  Louise  Marie  de  Gonzague.     She  had  married  in  1645   Ladislas  IV.  King  of 
Poland,  and,  after  his  death,  she  became  wife  of  his  brother,  John  Casimir. 


240       THE  LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   CONDES 

to  the  younger  branch  of  the  Royal  Family  with  its  great 
possessions,  was  the  belief  that  his  son's  marriage  with  a  niece 
of  the  King  and  Queen  of  Poland  would  be  of  material  assist- 
ance to  him  in  the  realization  of  an  ambition  which  he  had  for 
some  time  cherished. 

This  ambition  was  nothing  less  than  Enghien's  succession 
to  the  elective  crown  of  Poland,  which  the  reigning  sovereign, 
the  childless  John  Casimir,  was  prepared  to  abdicate  so  soon  as 
a  candidate  likely  to  be  acceptable  to  the  great  majority  of  his 
subjects  could  be  found.  This  idea  seems  to  have  originated 
with  the  Queen  of  Poland,  one  of  Conde's  most  intimate  friends, 
who  was  using  all  her  influence  to  secure  the  support  of  her 
husband  and  the  Polish  nobles,  who  in  that  State  were  masters 
of  the  throne,  for  the  Due  d'Enghien. 

Louis  XIV.  was  not  ill-disposed  towards  the  Polish  project, 
and,  on  10  December,  1663,  the  marriage  of  the  Due  d'Enghien 
and  Anne  of  Bavaria  was  celebrated  in  the  King's  chapel  at  the 
Louvre.  A  clause  in  the  marriage  contract  stated  that  the 
King  and  Queen  of  Poland  adopted  the  bride  "as  their  only 
daughter."  Meanwhile,  however,  it  was  becoming  apparent 
that  Conde  himself  was  likely  to  be  far  more  acceptable  to  the 
Poles  than  his  son,  and  the  French  Court  seemed  to  approve  of 
this  solution.  At  the  beginning  of  1665,  John  Casimir  decided 
to  abdicate,  and  Conde  was  preparing  to  start  for  Warsaw  with 
Enghien — whether  it  was  his  intention  to  get  himself  or  his  son 
elected  is  a  moot  point — when  Louis  XIV.,  fearing  to  offend  the 
Duke  of  Neuburg,  a  rival  competitor,  whose  possessions  of  Berg 
and  Julich  commanded  the  passages  of  the  Rhine  and  covered 
the  Spanish  Netherlands  on  the  North-East,  ordered  him  to 
renounce  his  candidature.  "My  cousin,"  said  he,  "think  no 
more  of  the  Crown  of  Poland  ;  the  interest  of  my  State  is  con- 
cerned in  it."  Conde  reluctantly  obeyed,  and  when,  in  June 
1669,  John  Casimir,  who  had  been  persuaded  by  the  prince's 
friends  in  Poland  to  retain  the  crown  until  then,  in  the  hope 
that  circumstances  might  permit  him  to  renew  his  candidature, 
Michael  Wisnowiecki  was  elected. 

Conde  received   some   compensation    for   the   mortification 


COND&  CONQUERS  FRANCHE-COMT&   241 

which  the  Polish  affair  must  have  occasioned  him  in  a  brilliantly 
successful  reappearance  in  command  of  a  French  army.  On 
the  outbreak  of  the  Devolution  War  in  1667,  the  command  of 
the  forces  which  invaded  the  Spanish  Netherlands  was  given  to 
Turenne,  and  his  great  rival  was  left  to  languish  in  inaction  at 
Chantilly.  Without  allowing  himself  to  be  discouraged,  Conde 
secretly  applied  himself  to  drawing  up  a  plan  for  the  conquest 
of  Franche-Comte.  This  plan  he  submitted  to  Louvois,  the 
Minister  for  War,  who  persuaded  the  King  to  approve  it,  and 
to  entrust  its  execution  to  the  prince  himself.  On  4  February, 
1668,  Conde  crossed  the  frontier,  and  so  skilfully  had  his 
measures  been  taken  and  so  rapid  were  his  movements,  that  in 
little  more  than  a  fortnight  the  whole  province  was  at  his  feet. 
Louis  XIV.  immediately  gave  to  the  prince  the  government  of 
the  conquered  territory  ;  but  the  Triple  Alliance  between 
England,  Sweden  and  Holland  was  already  forming,  and  the 
King  was  soon  obliged  to  consent  to  peace,  retaining  his  con- 
quests in  the  Netherlands,  but  restoring  Franche-Comte  to 
Spain. 

The  Princesse  de  Conde  had  figured  at  the  marriage  of 
her  son  and  at  the  subsequent  festivities,  but,  after  the  young 
couple  had  established  themselves  at  Chantilly,  where  a  portion 
of  the  chateau  had  been  placed  at  their  disposal,  she  gradually 
disappeared  from  the  Court  and  Society,  and  was  never  seen 
except  at  great  official  functions,  where  her  rank  necessitated 
her  presence.  Often  she  was  ill  and  invisible  for  months  at 
a  time,  and  Conde  and  Enghien  appeared  very  embarrassed 
when  people  inquired  after  the  princess's  health,  and  hastened 
to  change  the  subject.  A  few  notes  preserved  in  the  archives 
of  Chantilly  serve  to  explain  what  seems  to  have  remained  an 
enigma,  even  to  the  best-informed  of  contemporary  chroniclers. 
In  the  autumn  of  1664,  we  find  Conde  writing  to  his  secretary 
Caillet  as  follows : 

"  Make  yourself  acquainted  with  everything  that  my  wife 
does  at  Saint-Maur  ;  inform  me  of  everything  that  she  does 
or  says,  and  whether  she  still  persists  in  her  transports  {empor la- 
ments). .  .  M.  Perrault  writes  me  that  she  spoke  to  him  with 


242       THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   CONDES 

moderation.  I  am  a  little  dubious  about  that,  for  I  hear  from 
others  that  she  is  anything  but  moderate.  .  .  .  Endeavour,  at 
any  rate,  to  discover  what  has  become  of  Duval,  and  if  my  wife 
has  not  seen  him  at  Saint-Maur.  ...  I  will  inform  you  of  what 
will  have  to  be  done  in  this  matter.  Show  my  letter  to  the 
Abbe  Roquette  and  to  Pere  Bergier  (the  two  spiritual  directors 
of  the  family)."  1 

From  these  letters,  it  is  very  evident  that  Madame  la 
Princesses  mind  was  affected,  a  fact  which  is  not  surprising, 
when  we  consider  that  her  mother,  Nicole  du  Plessis,  had 
always  been  eccentric,  and,  in  her  later  years,  quite  insane ; 
that  her  father  had  been  noted  for  :his  morose  disposition 
and  violent  temper,  and  that  she  herself  had  passed  through 
so  many  agitations,  hardships,  and  deceptions.  It  is,  indeed, 
sad  to  reflect  that  the  reason  of  this  truly  noble  woman,  who 
in  war  and  exile  had  shown  such  admirable  courage  and  forti- 
tude, should  have  given  way  at  the  very  moment  when  she 
should  have  been  enjoying  the  repose  and  happiness  which  she 
had  so  well  earned.  For  this  calamity  the  neglect  and  indiffer- 
ence of  her  ungrateful  husband  and  her  unnatural  son  were 
undoubtedly  largely  responsible. 

Abandoned  by  those  who  should  have  lavished  upon  her 
the  most  tender  care,  the  unhappy  Claire-Clemence  became  the 
prey  of  greedy  and  unscrupulous  attendants.  The  man  Duval 
mentioned  by  Conde  in  one  of  his  letters  to  Caillet  was  a  foot- 
man of  the  princess,  a  person  of  some  education  and  "  de  bonne 
conversation,"  to  whom  the  lonely  woman  had  attached  herself. 
She  gave  him  expensive  presents  and  promised  him  a  pension  ; 
and  Conde,  warned  of  the  influence  which  he  was  beginning  to 
exercise  over  his  wife,  insisted  on  her  dismissing  him  from  her 
service. 

The  dismissal  of  the  only  person  who  appeared  to  feel  for 
her  any  sympathy  aggravated  for  a  time  the  malady  of  Claire- 
Clemence,  and  was  no  doubt  the  cause  of  the  u  emportements"  of 
which  her  husband  speaks.  But  they  do  not  appear  to  have 
lasted  long,  and  by  Holy  Week  1655,  she  was  sufficiently 
1  Letters  of  28  September,  7  and  8  October,  published  by  the  Due  d'Aumale. 


A   MYSTERIOUS   AFFAIR  243 

recovered  to  assist  at  the  ceremonies  of  the  Lord's  Supper, 
when  the  Queen,  in  accordance  with  ancient  custom,  served  at 
table  twelve  poor  women,  whose  feet  she  washed.  The  Princesse 
de  Conde,  aided  by  Mile.  d'Alencon  and  the  Princess  of  Baden, 
carried  the  dishes  to  her  Majesty. 

During  the  next  six  years,  Claire-Clemence  continued  to 
lead  the  same  secluded  life,  emerging  now  and  again  from  her 
retirement  to  assist  at  some  Court  ceremony,  such  as  the 
baptism  of  the  Dauphin  at  Saint-Germain-en-Laye,  on  which 
occasion  she  was  one  of  the  princesses  to  whom  fell  the  duty 
of  dressing  the  infant  prince.  After  this  brilliant  ceremony, 
however,  the  appearances  of  the  princess  in  public  became  so 
rare  that  people  appear  to  have  almost  forgotten  her  existence, 
when,  at  the  beginning  of  167 1,  a  mysterious  affair,  which  was 
to  complete  the  ruin  of  her  life,  came  to  make  her,  for  a  moment, 
the  talk  of  both  Court  and  town. 

About  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of  13  January,  Claire- 
Clemence,  having  just  dined,  was  alone  in  her  apartments  at  the 
Hotel  de  Conde,  when  the  door  opened,  and  her  former  favourite, 
the  dismissed  footman,  Duval,  entered  the  room  unannounced. 
The  ease  with  which  he  had  succeeded  in  making  his  way  to 
the  princess's  apartments  is  explained  by  the  fact  that  at  this 
hour  of  the  day  all  the  servants  were  at  dinner,  and  that  there 
was  no  one  at  hand  to  inquire  his  business.  Duval  had  come 
to  demand  money- — the  arrears  of  the  pension  which  the  princess 
had  promised  him,  but  which,  owing  to  the  unsatisfactory  state 
of  her  finances,  had  only  been  paid  very  irregularly.  On  being 
told  that  it  was  impossible  to  comply  with  his  request  at  once, 
he  became  very  insolent  and  spoke  in  so  loud  a  tone  that  a 
young  musketeer,  the  Comte  Jean  Louis  de  Bussy-Rabutin, 
formerly  page  to  the  Princesse  de  Conde,  who  had  just  entered 
the  ante-chamber,  opened  the  door  to  see  what  was  the  matter. 
Rabutin,  after  asking  the  impudent  rascal  how  he  dared  to 
address  her  Highness  in  such  a  manner,  ordered  him  to  leave 
the  house  immediately  ;  Duval  angrily  refused,  and  both  drew 
their  swords  and  rushed  upon  each  other.  The  princess 
endeavoured  to  separate  them,  and  received  a  wound  "  above 


244       THE  LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   CONDES 

the  right  breast,"  1  which,  though  not  dangerous,  bled  profusely; 
She  fell  to  the  ground  in  a  swoon  ;  the  servants,  attracted  by 
the  noise,  came  rushing  in,  and  the  combatants,  profiting  by 
the  confusion,  succeeded  in  effecting  their  escape,  though  not 
before  they  had  both  been  recognized. 

Such  was  the  version  which  spread  in  Paris  and  was  generally 
accepted,  until  the  singular  attitude  of  Conde  piqued  the 
curiosity  of  the  public  and  invested  the  affair  with  an  atmo- 
sphere of  mystery  and  scandal.  The  prince,  who  had  long 
sought  an  occasion  for  disembarrassing  himself  of  a  wife  whom 
he  had  never  loved,  and  who  was  no  longer  able  to  be  of  use 
to  him,  did  not  hesitate  a  moment  to  place  the  very  worst 
construction  upon  what  had  occurred.  Although  suffering 
cruelly  from  the  gout,  he  at  once  ordered  his  coach  and  set  out 
for  Paris,  and,  refusing  even  to  see  his  wife,  demanded  of  the 
King  the  punishment  of  a  crime  of  lese-majeste  and  a  lettre  de 
cachet  against  the  princess.  Louis  XIV.,  who  had  been  himself 
so  far  from  conceiving  any  suspicions  that  he  had  already  paid 
a  personal  visit  to  the  injured  lady,  refused  at  first  to  accede  to 
the  latter  request,  and  Conde  returned  to  Chantilly  in  a  very 
bad  temper. 

However,  he  was  not  the  kind  of  person  to  be  easily  dis- 
couraged, and  on  15  January,  in  the  presence  of  the  captain  of 
his  guards  and  the  curd  of  Chantilly,  he  drew  up  and  signed 
a  document  authorizing  the  Princesse  de  Conde  to  make  a 
donation  of  her  property  to  her  son,  the  Due  d'Enghien.  At 
the  same  time,  he  caused  a  deed  to  be  prepared  which  stated 
that  the  princess,  "on  account  of  the  tenderness  and  affection 
which  she  had  always  had  for  the  person  of  the  very  high,  very 
excellent  and  puissant  prince  Monseigneur  Henri  Jules  de 
Bourbon,  Due  d'Enghien,  her  son,  Prince  of  the  Blood,  peer 
and  Grand  Master  of  France,  etc.,  etc.,  and  to  recognize  the 
great  respect  and  obedience  which  he  had  always  had  for  her, 
made  a  donation  to  him  of  all  her  movable  property,  furniture, 
titles,  actions,  immovables,  pretensions,  in  whatsoever  place 
they  might  be  situated,  reserving,  nevertheless,  the  enjoyment 

1  "  Gazette  de  France,"  17  January,  1671. 


TRIAL   OF  DUVAL  245 

by  usufruct  of  all  her  said  goods,  during  her  lifetime,  to  dispose 
of  them  as  might  seem  good  to  her."  1 

The  same  day,  the  Due  d'Enghien,  accompanied  by  two 
notaries,  proceeded  to  the  H6tel  de  Conde\  informed  his  mother 
of  the  wishes  of  Monsieur  le  Prince,  and  presented  the  deed  for 
her  signature.  The  unfortunate  princess  signed  without  demur 
this  kind  of  anticipated  will,  in  which  it  seemed  that  her 
husband  desired  to  cut  her  off  from  the  world  of  the  living. 
She  was  no  doubt  under  the  impression  that  her  compliance 
might  suffice  to  appease  the  conjugal  wrath,  and  did  not  appear 
to  understand  that  it  was  tantamount  to  a  confession  that  she 
was  no  longer  responsible  for  her  actions. 

As  the  Due  d'Aumale  observes,  this  deed  had  not  the 
character  of  a  spoliation,  since  the  usufruct  was  respected  and 
the  free  disposition  of  the  princess's  jewels  and  plate  assured. 
Yet,  when  viewed  in  the  light  of  what  followed,  it  had  an  odious 
appearance,  and  nothing  in  this  sad  affair  has  more  disposed 
public  opinion  against  Conde  and  his  son. 

Meanwhile,  an  active  search  had  been  made  for  the  culprits. 
Duval  was  discovered  at  the  house  of  a  canon  of  the  Sainte- 
Chapelle,  whom  he  had  persuaded  to  give  him  shelter,  and 
conducted,  with  his  hands  tied  behind  his  back,  to  the  prison 
of  the  Faubourg  Saint-Germain.  Rabutin  was  more  fortunate. 
After  lying  hidden  for  a  week  at  the  Hotel  des  Mousquetaires, 
he  succeeded  in  effecting  his  escape  to  Germany,  where  he 
married  a  lady  of  royal  blood,  the  Princess  Dorothea  of 
Holstein,  and  rose  to  high  rank  in  the  Imperial  service. 

As  the  crime  with  which  Duval  was  charged  was  that  of 
having  attempted  the  life  of  a  Princess  of  the  Blood,  he  was 
tried  by  the  Grande  Chambre  and  the  Tournelle,  sitting  to- 
gether. The  evidence  of  Claire-Clemence,  taken  on  commission 
on  17  January,  proved  most  unfortunate  for  her,  since,  from  a 
generous  but  mistaken  desire  to  shield  two  men  who  had  been 
in  her  service — Rabutin  had  not  yet  succeeded  in  effecting  his 
escape  from  Paris,  and  the  police  were  hunting  for  him  high 

1  By  a  separate  deed,  the  prineess  was  permitted  to  dispose  as  she  wished  of  her 
jewels  and  plate. 


246       THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   CONDES 

and  low — she  professed  entire  ignorance  of  the  cause  of  the 
affray.  Duval,  she  declared,  had  come  to  ask  for  money,  of 
which  he  explained  that  he  was  in  great  need,  and  she  had 
promised  to  give  it  to  him  in  two  or  three  days.  (It  will  be 
observed  that  she  said  nothing  about  the  loud  and  insolent  tone 
in  which  he  had  demanded  it,  and  which  had  been  the  cause  of 
Rabutin's  appearance  upon  the  scene.)  After  he  had  left  her, 
she  had  heard  a  commotion  in  the  ante-chamber  adjoining  her 
salon,  and,  going  out  to  see  what  was  the  matter,  had  received 
a  wound  in  the  breast,  from  which  she  immediately  lost  con- 
sciousness, without  having  recognized  the  persons  who  were 
fighting. 

Duval  was  three  times  interrogated.  On  the  first  two 
occasions  he  stoutly  denied  that  he  was  in  any  way  culpable, 
but  on  the  third  he  confessed,  and  admitted  that  it  was  he  who 
had  wounded  the  princess.  In  view  of  the  latter's  reticence, 
however,  the  Court  regarded  these  admissions  with  considerable 
suspicion,  and,  being  of  opinion  that  the  charge  was  not  fully 
proved,  instead  of  condemning  him  to  death,  merely  sentenced 
him  to  the  galleys. 

The  result  of  the  proceedings  against  Duval,  joined  to  the 
singular  attitude  of  Monsieur  le  Prince,  gave  to  the  affair,  in  the 
opinion  of  a  considerable  section  of  the  public,  a  new  com- 
plexion ;  and  it  was  now  freely  asserted  that  the  two  men  who 
had  drawn  upon  each  other  in  the  princess's  presence  had  been 
rivals  in  her  affections.  Such  was  the  view  taken  by  Madame 
de  Sevignd,  who,  in  a  letter  to  her  cousin  Bussy,1  thus  expresses 
herself: 

"  I  have  just  been  told  of  an  extraordinary  adventure  which 
occurred  at  the  Hotel  de  Cond£,  and  which  deserves  to  be 
related  to  you.  Here  it  is  :  Madame  la  Princesse  having  con- 
ceived an  affection  for  one  of  her  footmen  named  Duval,  the 
latter  was  foolish  enough  to  suffer  impatiently  the  good-will 
which   she  likewise  testified    for  the  young  Rabutin,  who  had 

1  Roger  de  Rabutin,  Comte  de  Bussy  (1618-1693),  lne  celebrated  letter-writer 
and  author  of  the  scandalous  "  Histoire  amoureuse  des  Gaules,"  which  procured  him 
a  year  in  the  Bastille  and  a  sixteen  years'  exile  from  the  Court. 


A   CRUEL   CALUMNY  247 

been  her  page.  One  day,  when  they  both  happened  to  be  in 
her  chamber,  Duval  having  said  something  that  was  wanting 
in  respect  to  the  princess,  Rabutin  drew  his  sword  to  chastise 
him.  Duval  drew  his  also,  and  the  princess,  throwing  herself 
between  them  to  separate  them,  was  wounded  in  the  breast. 
Duval  has  been  arrested,  and  Rabutin  has  taken  to  flight. 
However  honourable  the  subject  of  the  quarrel  may  be,  I  like 
not  the  name  of  a  footman  coupled  with  that  of  Rabutin."  l 
To  which  her  scandal-loving  correspondent  replies : 
"  Our  cousin's  adventure  is  neither  beautiful  nor  ugly ;  the 
mistress  does  him  honour,  and  the  rival  shame." 

At  the  same  time,  most  of  her  contemporaries  refused  to 
believe  that  the  sweet  and  unfortunate  Claire-Clemence  had  been 
seriously  culpable,  and,  though  several  of  Conde's  biographers, 
to  efface  a  stain  on  the  escutcheon  of  their  hero,  have  not 
hesitated  to  reproduce  this  calumny,  others,  such  as  Louis 
Joseph  de  Bourbon  and  Earl  Stanhope,  are  of  a  different 
opinion,  and  blame  severely  the  conduct  of  the  prince.2  "  How 
is  it  possible,"  asks  the  latter,  "  to  think  that  the  suspicion  of 
the  prince  was  well  founded  ?  How  can  we  believe  that  a 
princess  married  nearly  thirty  years,  and,  up  to  this  time, 
entirely  free  from  the  slightest  imputation — always  held  sacred 
by  calumny,  which  spares  so  few,  ever  irreproachable  in  the 
midst  of  a  most  corrupt  Court — could  have  waited  till  the  age 
when  passions  have  subsided  to  indulge  them  ?  How  reconcile 
such  irregularities  with  that  exalted  piety  which  she  had 
practised  from  her  youth  upwards  ?  How  can  we,  without  any 
proof,  admit  such  accusations  against  the  woman  who  had 
always  devoted  herself  so  courageously  and  constantly  to  the 
service  of  a  husband  who  slighted  her?  Against  the  heroine 
of  Montrond  and  Bordeaux  ;  against  Clemence  de  MaiHe"  ? 
And  again,  what  accusations  ?  Not  only  of  an  illicit  attachment, 
but  the  shameless  sharing  of  her  favours  between  two  of  her 
own  domestics  !  "  3 

1  Letter  of  23  January,  1671. 

-  The  best  informed  of  all,  the  Due  d'Aumale,  adopts  a  neutral  attitude,  being 
of  opinion  that  there  is  not  sufficient  evidence  to  condemn  either  Conde  or  his  wife. 
3  "  Life   of    Louis,    Prince   of    Conde,  surnamed    the   Great."     It    should    be 


248       THE  LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   CONDES 

Condd,  who  had  never  scrupled  to  jeer  at  the  conjugal 
misfortunes  of  others,  now,  in  his  turn,  became  an  object  of 
ridicule.  Chansons  and  epigrams  at  his  expense  began  to 
circulate  in  Paris,  and  served  to  exasperate  him  still  further 
against  his  wife.  In  the  first  days  of  February,  he  again 
demanded  of  the  King  a  lettre  de  cachet,  and  this  time  Louis 
XIV.  did  not  refuse,  and  signed  an  order  which  exiled  the 
princess  to  the  Chateau  of  Chateauroux,  in  Berry.  No  time 
was  lost  in  executing  it,  and  as  soon  as  the  doctors  pronounced 
her  able  to  stand  the  fatigue  of  the  journey,  she  left  Paris. 

On  the  day  of  her  departure,  she  sent  for  the  cure  of  Saint- 
Sulpice,  with  whom  she  had  a  long  conversation.  "  Monsieur," 
said  she,  as  she  bade  him  farewell,  "  this  is  the  last  time  that 
you  will  speak  to  me,  since  I  shall  never  return  from  the  place 
to  which  the  King  is  sending  me.  But  the  confession  which  I 
now  make  to  you  will  proclaim  my  innocence  for  ever."  Her 
parting  from  her  son  was  heartrending,  and,  after  embracing 
him  again  and  again,  she  swooned  away  in  his  arms.  As  soon 
as  she  recovered,  the  carriage  started  for  Chateauroux. 

The  chateau  which  Conde  had  selected  as  his  wife's  prison, 
and  where  she  was  destined  to  remain  for  the  rest  of  her  days, 
stands  upon  a  hill  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Indre,  and  commands 
a  magnificent  view  of  the  surrounding  country.  It  was  built  by 
Raoul  le  Large,  seigneur  de  Deols,  about  the  middle  of  the  tenth 
century,1  an  age  when  security  was  naturally  the  primary  con- 
sideration, and,  though  its  sombre  appearance  had  been  a  good 
deal  modified  from  time  to  time,  it  was  still  far  from  a  cheerful 
habitation. 

The  princess  was  followed  thither  by  her  whole  Household  : 
dame  d'honneiir,  chevalier  d'honneitr,  equerry,  almoner,  physician, 
apothecary,  comptroller,  waiting-women,  chef,  scullions,  coach- 
men and  footmen  ;  and  an  allowance  of  50,000  livres  a  year  was 
made  her  for  the  maintenance  of  this  establishment.     She  was 

mentioned  that  the  distinguished  historian  declines  to  believe  that  the  princess  had 
as  yet  exhibited  any  signs  of  insanity,  but  in  this  he  is  quite  mistaken. 

1  The  seigneurie  of  Chateauroux  was  in  1497  erected  into  a  county  in  favour  of 
Andre  de  Chauvigny.  In  1613  it  was  acquired  by  Henri  II.,  Prince  de  Conde,  who, 
three  years  later,  obtained  letters-patent  evicting  it  into  a  duchy-peerage. 


CAPTIVITY  OF  MME.  LA   PRINCESSE        249 

permitted  to  walk  in  the  grounds  of  the  chateau,  and  even  to 
take  carriage  exercise  in  the  vicinity,  but  always  very  carefully 
watched  and  guarded  ;  while  no  stranger  was  under  any  pretext 
allowed  to  approach  her.  Apart  from  these  restrictions,  she 
was  treated,  at  any  rate  at  first,  with  all  the  consideration  and 
respect  due  to  her  exalted  rank,  and  her  captivity  was  not  of 
the  harsh  and  brutal  character  with  which  some  writers  have 
invested  it. 

Nevertheless,  the  isolation  to  which  she  was  subjected,  the 
deadly  monotony  of  her  existence  in  this  gloomy  fortress,  soon 
began  to  have  its  effect  upon  her  already  tottering  reason.  Her 
disorder  took  the  form  of  terror.  From  incessant  brooding  over 
her  wrongs,  the  husband  who  had  repaid  her  unselfish  devotion 
with  such  harshness  and  ingratitude  became,  in  moments  of 
hallucination,  a  monster  who,  not  content  with  burying  her  alive, 
was  resolved  to  rid  himself  of  her  altogether,  and  frequently 
she  refused  to  touch  dishes  that  were  offered  her,  from  fear 
lest  they  should  contain  poison. 

In  1675,  in  consequence  of  some  rumours  which  had  reached 
her  that  her  sister-in-law  was  being  ill-treated  by  those  to  whose 
care  she  had  been  entrusted,  Madame  de  Longueville,  more 
compassionate  than  the  rest  of  her  family,  requested  Pere 
Tixier,  a  Benedictine  monk  in  whom  she  had  every  confidence, 
to  proceed  to  Chateauroux  and  ascertain  if  there  were  any 
justification  for  these  reports.  The  monk,  however,  before 
undertaking  this  mission,  considered  it  advisable  to  inquire  if  it 
would  be  agreeable  to  Monsieur  le  Prince,  who  was  likewise  a 
valued  patron  of  his.  Condc  raised  no  objection.  "  You  will 
go  to  Chateauroux,"  said  he,  "  since  my  sister  wishes  it,  and  will 
see  whether  Madame  la  Princesse  has  everything  she  requires  ; 
for,  such  as  she  is,  she  is  my  wife,  and  I  do  not  wish  her  to 
want  for  anything.  But  do  not  speak  of  me  to  her  at  all, 
you  understand." 

On  his  arrival  at  Chateauroux,  Pere  Tixier  was  presented  to 
the  princess,  who  was  about  to  sit  down  to  dinner.  "  Father," 
said  she,  "  you  belong  to  Monsieur  le  Prince,  who  sends  you  to 
see  me."     "  No,  Madame,"  replied  the  good  man,  "  I  am  a  monk, 


250      THE  LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   CONDES 

and  the  monks  belong  to  God."  "  Oh  !  "  rejoined  the  princess, 
"  I  understand  ; "  and  she  declared  her  conviction  that  Conde  had 
sent  him  to  confess  her,  because  he  intended  to  have  her  made 
away  with.  Tixier  endeavoured  to  reassure  her,  and  the  officer 
whom  Conde  had  placed  in  charge  of  his  wife,  and  "  who  I  saw 
clearly,"  says  the  monk,  "  treated  her  very  roughly,"  exclaimed  : 
"  Morbleu  !  Madame,  at  your  usual  fables  again !  Will  you 
never  be  sensible  ? " 

Dinner  was  served,  and,  after  the  soup,  a  dish  of  cod  was 
brought  in.  The  princess  partook  of  it  with  relish,  and  asked  for 
a  second  helping.  The  dish,  however,  had  just  been  removed, 
and,  when  it  was  brought  back,  she  declined  to  touch  it,  saying 
that  it  had  been  to  the  kitchen  and  that  there  had  been  suffi- 
cient time  to  mix  with  it  some  fatal  ingredient.  The  officer 
remonstrated.  "  But,"  said  he,  "  does  not  everything  that  is 
served  you,  Madame,  come  from  the  kitchen  ?  "  Nevertheless, 
the  unfortunate  woman  refused  to  listen  to  reason. 

The  princess,  having  at  length  been  persuaded  by  Pere 
Tixier  that  he  had  merely  come,  at  Madame  de  Longueville's 
request,  to  inquire  as  to  her  welfare,  begged  him  to  convey  her 
most  grateful  thanks  to  her  sister-in-law.  For  her  husband,  she 
had  no  message  and  spoke  of  him  with  aversion.  "  Monsieur  le 
Prince"  said  she,  " greatly  despised  me,  but  I  greatly  despised 
him  also."  x 

1  "Pere  Tixier,"  by  MM.  Lemoine  and  Lichtenberger,  "Revue  de  Paris,"  15 
November,  1903. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

Termination  of  Condi's  military  career — His  retirement  at  Chantilly — 
His  improvements  of  the  chateau  and  estate — His  son,  the  Due  d'Enghien 
(Monsieur  le  Due) — Portrait  of  this  prince  by  Saint- Simon — His  tyrannical 
treatment  of  his  wife — His  singular  habits — Malicious  practical  joke  which 
he  perpetrates  on  the  Due  de  Luxembourg — His  amours  with  the  Duchesse 
de  Nevers,  the  Marquise  de  Richelieu,  and  the  Comtesse  de  Marans — His 
natural  daughter  by  Madame  de  Marans  legitimated  and  married  to  the 
Marquis  de  Lassay — His  lack  of  military  capacity — His  children — The 
education  of  his  only  son,  the  Due  de  Bourbon,  superintended  by  Conde" — 
Marriage  of  the  young  prince  to  Mile,  de  Nantes,  elder  daughter  of  Louis  XIV. 
and  Madame  de  Montespan — The  wedding-night — Conversion  of  Conde 
— His  last  illness — His  death — His  funeral  oration  by  Bossuet — The 
Princesse  de  Conde"  remains  in  captivity — Her  death. 

Tl/TONSIEUR  LE  PRINCE  probably  troubled  himself 
1VJ.  very  little  about  his  unhappy  wife's  feelings  towards 
him.  Having  brought  his  military  career  to  a 
triumphant  close  by  restoring  the  fortunes  of  France  in 
Alsace  and  driving  the  Imperialists  across  the  Rhine,  he  had 
retired  definitely  to  Chantilly,  to  spend  the  remaining  years 
of  his  life  in  as  much  peace  as  his  implacable  enemy,  gout, 
would  permit. 

In  this  delightful  spot,  his  leisure  was  cheered  by  the  society 
of  all  the  celebrities  of  his  time.  There  were  to  be  met  warriors, 
statesmen  and  ambassadors,  divines  and  philosophers,  poets, 
painters,  scientists  and  wits.  No  general  set  out  to  join  his  army 
without  coming  to  take  leave  of  the  great  captain  and  discuss 
with  him  his  plan  of  campaign  ;  no  distinguished  foreigner 
visited  Paris  without  paying  homage  at  Chantilly  ;  no  author  of 
repute  published  a  book  without  sending  a  copy  to  the  prince 
who  was  "thought  the  best  judge  in  France  both  of  wit  and 
learning."  l 

1  Bishop  Burnet,  "  History  of  his  own  Time." 
251 


252       THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   COND&S 
And  so  he  grew  old,  honoured  and  adulated  by  all : 

"  Tranquille  et  glorieux 
II  vit  a  Chantilly  corame  on  vit  dans  les  cieux."  ' 

Conde  had  a  natural  taste  for  gardening — even  during  his 
imprisonment  at  Vincennes  he  had  amused  himself  by  cultivating 
carnations — and  his  greatest  pleasure  in  his  declining  years  was 
to  embellish  the  retreat  which  he  had  chosen  for  himself.  In 
1662,  he  had  begun  the  enlargement  of  the  park,  and,  under  the 
direction  of  the  celebrated  gardener  Le  Notre,  parterres  were 
traced  around  the  chateau,  long  alleys,  bordered  by  trim  hedges, 
stretching  away  into  the  forest  began  to  make  their  appearance, 
and  trees,  shrubs,  and  rare  plants  were  gathered  from  all  quarters. 
But  want  of  money  imposed  prudence,  and  it  was  not  until  some 
years  later,  when  Monsieur  le  Prince's  finances  were  once  more 
in  a  satisfactory  condition,  that  the  work  took  a  wide  scope- 
Then  it  was  that  Gitard  constructed  the  grand  staircase  ;  that 
Mansart  built  the  Orangerie,  and  commenced  the  Menagerie  ;  that 
the  aqueduct  which  brought  to  Chantilly  the  water  of  the  fountain 
of  the  Hotel-Dieu-des-Marais  was  made  ;  that  the  parterres  were 
completed  and  new  avenues  pierced  in  all  directions  ;  that  the 
fountains  which  "  were  silent  neither  day  nor  night"2  were  erected, 
and  that  Chantilly  began  to  assume  the  appearance  which  it  was 
to  retain  until  the  Revolution. 

Conde,  however,  had  another  and  more  important  occupation 
in  his  retirement  than  the  embellishment  of  Chantilly. 

One  of  the  greatest  disappointments  of  the  prince's  life  was 
his  only  son,  the  Due  d'Enghien,  to  whom,  as  we  have  mentioned, 
he  was  most  tenderly  attached.  As  a  child,  Monsieur  le  Due — 
to  give  him  his  official  designation — had  been  charming,  but  this 
early  promise  had  unhappily  not  been  fulfilled,  either  in  appear- 
ance or  in  character  ;  while,  though  he  undoubtedly  possessed 
great  abilities,  he  was  quite  incapable  of  employing  them  to  any 
useful  purpose.  Saint-Simon  has  drawn  of  him  one  of  his  most 
arresting  portraits  : 

"  He  was  a  little  man,  very  thin  and  slenderly  made,  whose 

1  Saint-Evremond.  "  Stances  irregulieres." 

2  Bossuet,  "  Oraison  funebre  du  Grand, Conde." 


HKN'RI     iri.l-.S    HI-.    liOUKlSON.    KIT    H'KXi  ;HI  KN  (AKTKR\VARI>5 
PRINCE    I  )F.   COXDK) 

I'K   >'.:    AN    KMiHAVIVfi    I'.V    N.    mil.l.V,    A  !•  I  K  K     III  1:    I'AlNTINt,    I'.V    MIliNA     II 


SAINT-SIMON'S   PORTRAIT   OF  ENGHIEN    253 

countenance,  though  somewhat  mean,  was  still  imposing  from 
the  fire  and  intelligence  of  his  eyes  ;  while  his  nature  was  a 
compound  as  rare  as  could  be  met  with.  No  man  was  ever 
endowed  with  a  keener  or  more  varied  intelligence,  which 
extended  even  to  the  arts  and  mechanics,  and  was  joined  to  an 
exquisite  taste.  No  man  had  a  more  frank  or  more  natural 
courage,  or  a  greater  desire  to  shine  ;  and,  when  he  wished  to 
please,  he  did  so  with  so  much  tact,  grace,  and  charm  that  it 
seemed  spontaneous.  Neither  was  any  man  more  accomplished 
in  invention  and  execution,  in  the  pleasures  of  life,  in  the  magnifi- 
cence of  fetes,  by  which  he  often  astonished  and  delighted  in 
every  conceivable  way.  But,  then,  no  man  had  ever  before  so 
many  useless  talents,  so  much  futile  genius,  or  so  lively  and  active 
an  imagination,  solely  employed  to  be  his  own  curse  and  the 
scourge  of  others.  Abjectly  and  basely  servile,  even  to  lackeys, 
he  scrupled  not  to  use  the  lowest  and  paltriest  means  to  gain 
his  ends.  Unnatural  son  (to  his  mother),  cruel  father,  terrible 
husband,  detestable  master,  pernicious  neighbour ;  without 
friendship,  without  friends — incapable  of  having  any — jealous, 
suspicious,  ever  restless,  full  of  artifices  to  discover  everything 
and  to  scrutinize  all  (in  which  he  was  unceasingly  occupied, 
aided  by  an  extreme  vivacity  and  a  surprising  penetration)  ; 
choleric  and  headstrong  to  excess,  even  over  trifles,  never  in 
accord  with  himself  and  keeping  all  about  him  in  a  tremble,  he 
caused  the  unhappiness  of  every  one  who  had  any  connection 
with  him.  To  conclude,  impetuosity  and  avarice  were  his 
masters,  which  monopolized  him  always.  With  all  this,  he  was 
a  difficult  man  to  resist,  when  he  brought  into  play  the  pleasing 
qualities  he  possessed." 

To  his  unfortunate  wife,  Anne  of  Bavaria,  he  was  a  veritable 
tyrant.  She  was  ugly,  virtuous,  and  stupid,  a  little  deformed, 
and  not  very  clean  in  her  person  ;  but  this  did  not  hinder  him 
from  being  furiously  jealous  till  the  end  of  his  life.  Nor  were 
her  piety,  the  unwearying  attentions  she  lavished  upon  him,  her 
gentleness,  and  her  novice-like  submission  able  to  protect  her 
from  frequent  insults,  and  even  from  blows  and  kicks.  The  poor 
woman  was  hardly  allowed  to  call  her  soul  her  own.     "  She  was 


254       THE  LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   COND&S 

not  mistress  even  of  the  most  trifling  things  ;  she  did  not  dare 
to  propose  or  to  ask  anything.  He  would  make  her  start  on  a 
journey  the  moment  the  fancy  took  him,  and  often,  as  soon  as 
she  was  seated  in  the  carriage,  he  would  make  her  descend  again, 
or  return  from  the  end  of  the  street,  and  recommence  the  jour- 
ney after  dinner  or  the  next  day.  Once  this  kind  of  thing 
lasted  for  fifteen  days  running,  before  a  journey  to  Fontainebleau. 
At  other  times,  he  would  summon  her  from  church,  and  make 
her  leave  High  Mass,  and  sometimes  would  even  send  for  her 
when  she  was  on  the  point  of  receiving  the  Communion  ;  and 
she  would  be  obliged  to  return  on  the  instant  and  defer  her 
Communion  until  another  occasion.  This  he  did,  not  because 
he  wanted  her,  but  merely  to  gratify  his  whim." 

He  was  always  uncertain  in  his  movements,  and  had  four 
dinners  prepared  for  him  every  day  :  one  in  Paris,  a  second  at 
Ecouen,  a  third  at  Chantilly,  and  a  fourth  wherever  the  Court 
might  be  at  the  moment.  But  the  expense  of  this  arrangement 
was  not  so  great  as  might  be  supposed,  for  the  menu  consisted 
merely  of  soup  and  half  a  chicken  roasted  upon  a  croMon  of 
bread,  the  other  half  serving  for  the  following  day.  He  rarely 
invited  any  one  to  dine  with  him,  but,  when  he  did,  no  one 
could  be  more  courteous  or  more  attentive  to  his  guests. 

He  delighted  in  practical  jokes,  generally  of  an  extremely 
malicious  kind,  of  which  the  following  will  serve  as  an 
example  : 

The  Due  de  Luxembourg,1  son  of  the  celebrated  marshal, 
had  a  young  and  pretty  wife,2  who  suffered,  like  a  good  many 
other  ladies  about  the  Court,  from  excessive  sensibility,  a  fact 
which  was  "  known  to  everybody  in  France  except  her 
husband."  On  the  occasion  of  a  visit  of  the  Court  to  Marly, 
both  M.  de  Luxembourg  and  his  consort  were  invited  to  take 
part  in  a  masquerade.  Monsieur  le  Due  undertook  to  provide 
the  former  with  what  he  declared  to  be  a  highly  original 
costume,  and,  since  he  enjoyed  the  reputation  of  being  a 
great  authority  on  such  matters,  his  offer  was  gladly  accepted. 

1  Charles  Francois  Frederic  de  Montmorency-Boulteville. 
-  Marie  de  Clerambault. 


T%y*i'! 


DIAXK    CAKRIKU.K    UK     IHIAMIKS.    hrcHKSSK    UK    NKVKK 


THE   DUCHESSE   DE   NEVERS  255 

Thereupon  the  malicious  prince  proceeded  to  array  his  uncon- 
scious victim  in  various  fantastic  garments,  which  he  crowned 
with  a  gigantic  pair  of  antlers,  which  almost  touched  the 
candelabra.  Thus  attired,  he  was  conducted  into  the  ball- 
room, where,  by  a  sudden  shifting  of  his  mask,  his  identity  was 
quickly  revealed.  When  the  company  perceived  who  it  was 
who  was  thus  parading  the  emblem  of  a  deceived  husband,  a 
great  shout  of  laughter  rang  through  the  room,  which  redoubled 
when  the  luckless  Luxembourg,  mistaking  the  hilarity  which 
his  appearance  aroused  for  a  tribute  to  the  originality  of  his 
costume,  bowed  repeatedly. 

In  his  youth,  Monsieur  le  Due,  like  most  of  his  family,  was 
very  much  addicted  to  gallantry.  When  his  affections  were 
engaged,  nothing  cost  too  much,  and  "he  made  some  amends 
for  a  shape  which  resembled  a  gnome  rather  than  a  man."  l 
"  He  was  grace,  magnificence,  gallantry  personified — a  Jupiter 
transformed  into  a  shower  of  gold.  Now,  he  disguised  himself 
as  a  lackey ;  another  time,  as  a  female  vendor  of  articles  for 
the  toilette ;  anon,  in  some  other  fashion.  He  was  the  most 
ingenious  man  in  the  world." 2 

Among  the  great  ladies  who  smiled  upon  him  was  the 
lovely  and  fascinating  Gabrielle  de  Thianges,  who  became,  in 
1670,  the  wife  of  the  Due  de  Nevers,  the  brother  of  the 
famous  Mancini  sisters.8  "  Few  women,"  says  Saint-Simon, 
"  have  surpassed  her  in  beauty.  Hers  was  of  every  kind,  with 
a  singularity  which  charmed."  And  he  declares  that  when 
she  died,  at  the  age  of  sixty,  she  was  "  still  perfectly  beautiful." 

If  we  are  to  believe  Madame  de  Caylus,  the  duchess, 
after  the  fall  of  her  aunt,  Madame  de  Montespan,  had,  at 
that  lady's  suggestion,  made  an  attempt  to  capture  the 
affections  of  the  King,  "  in  order  to  keep  the  royal  favour  in 
the  family,"  and  that  it  was  only  upon  the  failure  of  this 
intrigue  that  she  resolved  to  content  herself  with  Monsieur  le 
Due.     But,  whatever  may  have  been  the  lady's  feelings   towards 

1  Madame  dc  Caylus.  -  Saint-Simon. 

s  Philippi    Mancini.       Mazarin  had   bequeathed  to   him    the   duchy-peerage    of 
Nivernois  and  Donzui*,  which  he  had  purchased  from  the  Duke  of  Mantua,  in  1659. 


256       THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   COND&S 

him,  Monsieur  le  Due  was  desperately  enamoured  of  her,  and 
the  fertility  of  resource  which  he  displayed  and  the  sums  he 
appears  to  have  expended  in  order  to  enjoy  her  society  were 
really  astonishing. 

Voltaire  asserts,  in  a  note  to  the  first  edition  of  the 
Souvenirs  of  Madame  de  Caylus,  that,  for  the  purpose  of 
entering  secretly  into  the  apartment  of  the  duchess,  he  had 
bought  the  two  houses  on  either  side  of  the  Hotel  de  Nevers. 
Saint-Simon  goes  much  further  and  says  that,  to  conceal  their 
rendezvous,  "  he  rented  all  the  houses  on  one  side  of  a  street 
near  Saint-Sulpice,  furnished  them,  and  pierced  the  connecting 
walls."  If  we  are  to  believe  this  anecdote,  the  Marechal  de 
Richelieu  must  have  been  but  a  feeble  plagiarist  when,  many 
years  later,  he  adopted  a  similar  means  of  entrance  into  the 
Palais-Royal  and  the  Hotel  de  la  Popeliniere.1  But  since 
Saint-Sulpice,  though  close  to  the  Hotel  de  Conde,  was  a  long 
way  from  the  Hotel  de  Nevers,  we  must  confess  that  we  do  not 
quite  see  how  such  operations  were  to  bring  Monsieur  le  Due  to 
the  side  of  his  beloved.  Perhaps,  however,  Saint-Simon  intends 
us  to  understand  that,  in  order  not  to  excite  the  least  suspicion, 
the  prince  was  in  the  habit  of  entering  a  house  at  one  end  of 
the  street,  and  the  lady  one  at  the  other  extremity,  and  of 
meeting  in  the  middle.  Any  way,  it  seems  rather  a  tall  story, 
even  for  Saint-Simon. 

Despite  so  many  precautions,  the  Due  de  Nevers  scented 
treason,  and  resolved  to  escape  it  by  the  procedure  which  he 
usually  adopted  in  such  circumstances,  namely,  by  carrying 
his  wife  off  to  Rome.2  "  M.  de  Nevers,"  writes  Madame  de 
Caylus,  "  was  in  the  habit  of  setting  off  for  Rome  in  the  same 
way  as  any  one  else  would  go  out  to  supper  ;  and  Madame 
de  Nevers  had  been  known  to  enter  her  carriage  in  the 
persuasion  that  she  was  only  going  for  a  drive,  and  then  to  hear 
her  husband  say  to  the  coachman:    "To    Rome."      In  time, 

1  See  the  author's  "  The  Fascinating  Due  de  Richelieu  "  (London,  Methuen  ; 
New  York,  Scribner,  1910). 

2  The  Due  de  Nevers  had  inherited  under  his  uncle's  will  the  Palazzo  Mazarini, 
at  the  foot  of  the  Quirinal,  and  frequently  spent  the  winter  there. 


THE   DUCHESSE   DE   NEVERS  257 

however,  the  lady  began  to  know  her  husband  better  and  to 
be  more  on  her  guard  against  him,  and  happening  to  discover 
his  intention  of  taking  her  upon  another  of  these  sudden 
journeys,  she  promptly  warned  her  lover  and  begged  him  to 
devise  some  means  of  averting,  or,  at  any  rate,  of  postponing, 
their  threatened  separation. 

Now,  the  Due  de  Nevers,  like  all  the  Mancini,  had  a  very 
pretty  turn  for  verse-making,  of  which  he  was  inordinately 
vain,  and  nothing  delighted  him  more  than  to  hear  his  poetical 
effusions  recited  before  an  appreciative  audience.  Aware  of 
this  little  weakness,  Monsieur  le  Due  resolved  to  lay  a  trap 
for  him,  into  which  he  felt  convinced  he  could  not  fail  to  fall. 
But  let  us  listen  to  Madame  de  Caylus  : 

"  Monsieur  le  Prince}  equally  fertile  of  invention  as  reckless 
of  expense  whenever  his  tastes  or  passions  were  concerned, 
judged,  from  the  knowledge  he  possessed  of  the  character  of 
M.  de  Nevers,  that  he  might  easily  divert  him  from  his  intended 
expedition,  by  affording  him  an  opportunity  of  employing  his 
talent  and  exercising  his  passion  for  making  verses.  He  pro- 
posed, therefore,  to  give  a  fete  to  Monseigneur2  at  Chantilly. 
The  invitation  was  given  and  accepted,  when  he  hastened  to 
M.  de  Nevers,  informed  him  of  the  entertainment,  and,  pre- 
tending that  he  was  in  a  great  difficulty  about  the  choice  of  a 
poet  to  write  the  words  of  the  divertissement,  begged  him,  as  a 
favour,  to  find  him  one.  Upon  which  M.  de  Nevers  offered 
himself,  just  as  Monsieur  le  Due  had  foreseen.  To  conclude,  the 
fete  took  place — it  cost  more  than  one  hundred  thousand  crowns 
— and  Madame  de  Nevers  did  not  go  to  Rome." 

Thus  Madame  de  Caylus.  But  Saint-Simon  gives  another 
version  of  this  story,  according  to  which  the  laugh,  at  the  last, 
was  on  the  side  of  M.  de  Nevers  : 

"  The  Due  de  Nevers,  all  jealous,  all  Italian,  all  full  of 
intelligence  that  he  was,  had  never  conceived  the  least  suspicion 
of  this   fete,   although   he   was   not   ignorant   of  the   love   of 

1  This  episode  occurred  in  1688,   nearly  two  years  after  the  death  of  the  Great 
Conde,  when  Monsieur  le  Due  had  become  Monsieur  le  Prince. 
•  The  Grand  Dauphin,  only  son  of  Louis  XIV. 

s 


258       THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   COND&S 

Monsieur  le  Prince  for  his  wife.  However,  five  days  before  it 
took  place,  he  ascertained  the  reason  why  it  was  being  given. 
He  said  not  a  word  about  it,  but  started  for  Rome  the  very 
next  day  with  his  wife,  and  remained  there  for  a  long  time  ;  and, 
in  his  turn,  scoffed  at  Monsieur  le  Prince? 

Another  grande  dame  whom  the  duke  honoured  by  his  atten- 
tions was  the  Marquise  de  Richelieu,1  a  lady  whom  Saint-Simon 
mentions,  "because  she  is  not  worth  the  trouble  of  being  silent 
about."  According  to  the  same  chronicler,  he  fell  madly  in 
love  with  this  siren,  and  "spent  millions  upon  her,  and  to  keep 
himself  informed  of  her  movements."  One  fine  day,  he  dis- 
covered, to  his  profound  indignation,  that  he  had  a  successful 
rival  in  the  person  of  the  Comte  de  Roucy.  He  reproached  the 
marchioness  bitterly  with  her  treachery,  and,  though  she  assured 
him  that  she  had  been  cruelly  maligned,  he  had  her  so  closely 
watched  that  very  soon  the  charge  was  brought  home  to  her 
beyond  any  possibility  of  denial.  In  vain,  did  the  culprit 
entreat  his  forgiveness  ;  in  vain,  did  she  swear  by  all  that  she  held 
sacred  that  Roucy's  love  was  as  nothing  to  her  in  comparison 
with  his,  and  that  she  would  never  see  him  again.  The 
infuriated  prince  refused  to  be  placated  and  turned  to  leave  her. 
Then  the  fear  of  losing  so  prodigal  a  lover  "  suggested  to  the 
marchioness  an  excellent  expedient  for  setting  his  mind  at 
rest."  She  proposed  to  give  Roucy  a  rendezvous  at  her  house, 
and  that  some  of  Monsieur  Je  Duds  people  should  lie  in  wait ; 
and,  when  the  count  appeared,  make  away  with  him.  But, 
instead  of  the  success  she  appears  to  have  expected  from  this 
very  Italian  proposal,2  the  prince  was  so  horrified  that  he  im- 
mediately sent  to  warn  Roucy,  and  never  saw  Madame  de 
Richelieu  again. 

A  third  inamorata  of  Monsieur  le  Due,  of  whom  we  should 
have  perhaps  spoken  before,  since  she  was  one  of  the  loves  of 
his  youth,  whereas  his  liaisons  with  the  Duchesse  de  Nevers 

1  Marie  Charlotte  de  la  Meilleraye-Mazarin.  She  was  a  daughter  of  Armand  de 
la  Porte-Meilleraye-Mazarin,  Due  de  Mazarin,  and  the  beautiful  Hortense  Maneini, 
Mazarin's  favourite  niece.  On  his  marriage,  the  former  added  the  cardinal's 
name  to  his  patronymic,  and  was  created  Due  de  Mazarin. 

2  Madame  de  Richelieu  was,  of  course,  an  Italian  on  her  mother's  side. 


MME.  DE  MARANS  AND  HER  DAUGHTER  259 

and  the  Marquise  de  Richelieu  belong  to  his  riper  years,  was 
the  widowed  Comtesse  de  Marans,  often  mentioned  in  the 
letters  of  Madame  de  Sevigne,  who  speaks  of  her  with  unusual 
bitterness,  owing,  it  is  believed,  to  some  disparaging  remark 
which  she  had  once  let  fall  concerning  the  writer's  beloved 
daughter,  Madame  de  Grignan.  The  countess  was  an  extremely 
pretty  woman,  but  the  most  inconsequent  and  extravagant 
creature  in  the  world.  According  to  Madame  de  Sevigne,  she 
had  been  heard  to  declare  that  she  would  rather  die  than 
surrender  herself  to  a  man  whom  she  loved  ;  but,  if  a  man  loved 
her  and  she  did  not  find  him  altogether  odious,  she  would  be 
willing  to  yield.  Whether  or  no  she  loved  Monsieur  le  Due, 
she  surrendered  herself  to  him,  and,  in  1668,  presented  him 
with  a  daughter.  The  girl  was  at  first  known  as  Mile,  de 
Guenani,  which  is  the  anagram  of  her  father's  duchy  of  Anguien 
(the  old  orthography  of  Enghien).  But,  in  1692,  she  was 
legitimated,  and  took  the  name  of  Julie  de  Conde,  Mile,  de 
Chateaubriant.  Brought  up  at  first  at  Maubuisson,  she  was 
later  sent  to  the  Abbaye-aux-Bois,  from  which  retreat,  however, 
she  occasionally  emerged  to  pay  visits  to  her  relatives  at 
Chantilly  or  Saint-Maur.  At  this  time,  there  seems  to  have 
been  some  idea  of  her  taking  the  veil,  but  she  was  so  pretty, 
intelligent,  and  amusing,  that  it  was  eventually  decided  that 
she  should  remain  in  the  world,  and,  in  1696,  she  married  the 
Marquis  de  Lassay,  a  middle-aged  widower,  celebrated  for  his 
amorous  adventures,  who  had  been  for  some  time  past 
desperately  in  love  with  her.  The  bride  received  a  dowry  of 
100,000  livres,  as  well  as  20,000  livres  for  the  expenses  of  her 
trousseau ;  while  Lassay  was  appointed  the  King's  lieutenant 
in  the  Bresse.  It  is  to  be  feared,  however,  that  the  amorous 
marquis  had  reason  to  regret  his  bargain,  for,  if  gossip  does  not 
lie,  before  she  had  been  married  a  week,  the  lady  had  provided 
herself  with  a  lover. 

Many  and  grave  as  were  the  faults  of  Monsieur  le  Due,  it  is 
probable  that  Conde  would  have  suffered  them  with  comparative 
equanimity  if  his  son  had  inherited  in  any  degree  his  own 
genius  for  war.    But,  singularly  enough,  with  all  the  intelligence 


260       THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   COND&S 

and  quickness  of  perception  which  he  displayed  in  other  direc- 
tions, Enghien  never  showed  the  smallest  aptitude  for  his 
father's  profession.  "  So  great  a  warrior  as  Monsieur  le  Prince? 
writes  Saint-Simon,  "was  never  able  to  make  his  son  under- 
stand the  first  principles  of  the  art  of  war.  He  made  this 
teaching  for  a  long  time  the  principal  object  of  his  care  and 
study.  His  son  tried  to  do  the  same,  but  was  never  able  to 
acquire  the  slightest  aptitude  for  any  portion  of  the  art, 
although  his  father  concealed  nothing  from  him,  and  was 
constantly  explaining  all  that  relates  to  it  at  the  head  of  his 
army.  He  always  took  him  with  him,  and  endeavoured  to  give 
him  a  command  near  himself,  of  course,  in  order  to  counsel 
him.  This  plan  of  instruction  succeeded  no  better  than  the 
others.  Finally,  he  despaired  of  his  son,  gifted  though  he  was 
with  such  great  talents,  and  ceased  his  endeavours,  with  what 
grief  may  be  imagined. 

In  fairness  to  Monsieur  le  Due,  however,  it  should  be 
mentioned  that,  if  he  had  inherited  none  of  his  father's  military 
genius,  he  had  at  least  inherited  his  valour,  and,  on  more  than 
one  occasion,  he  displayed  conspicuous  courage.  Thus,  at  the 
sanguinary  battle  of  Senefife  (n  August,  1774),  when  Conde's 
horse  had  been  killed  under  him,  and  the  prince  had  been 
thrown  with  great  violence  to  the  ground,  Enghien  threw 
himself  before  him,  and  was  himself  wounded  in  assisting  him 
to  rise. 

Of  nine  children  whom  Anne  of  Bavaria  had  borne  the  Due 
d'Enghien,  four  daughters  and  a  son  had  survived. *     The  boy, 

1  1.  Marie  Therese  de  Bourbon,  born  I  February,  1 666  ;  married  in  16S8  Louis 
Francois,  Prince  de  Conti  ;  died  in  1732. 

2.  Louis  de  Bourbon,  born  11  October,  1668;  became  Louis  III.,  Prince  de 
Conde  in  1709  ;  died  the  following  year. 

3.  Anne  Marie  Victoire  de  Bourbon,  Mile,  de  Conde,  born  II  August,  1675; 
died  unmarried  23  October,  1700. 

4.  Anne  Louise  Benedicte  de  Bourbon,  Mile,  de  Charolais,  born  8  November 
1676 ;  married  in  1692  the  Due  de  Maine,  son  of  Louis  XIV.  and  Madame  de 
Montespan. 

5.  Marie  Anne  de  Bourbon,  called  Mile,  de  Montmorency,  and  later  Mile. 
d'Enghien,  born  24  February,  1678  ;  married  in  1710  the  Due  de  Vendome  j  died  in 
1 7 18.' 


THE  DUC  DE  BOURBON  261 

Louis,  Due  de  Bourbon,  was  in  his  eighth  year  when  Conde 
retired  definitely  to  Chantilly,  and  Monsieur  le  Prince,  in  the 
hope  of  developing  in  the  son  the  qualities  which  he  had  not 
found  in  the  father,  and  of  perhaps  living  to  see  him  rise  up  and 
continue  the  glorious  traditions  of  the  family,  desired  to  direct 
his  education  himself.  Monsieur  le  Due,  whose  time  was  fully 
occupied  by  his  duties  at  the  Court,  and  who  still  retained  his 
former  habits  of  submission  to  his  father's  will,  consented ;  and 
Conde'  decided  to  have  his  grandson  educated  on  the  same 
system  which  had  proved  so  successful  in  his  own  case. 
Established  .■  at  the  Petit- Luxembourg,  with  his  gouvemeur 
Deschamps,1  his  tutors  the  Jesuit  Fathers  Alleaume  et  du 
Rosel,  and  one  of  Monsieur  le  Prince's  equerries,  Le  Bouchet, 
who  directed  his  physical  exercises,  the  young  duke  attended 
the  courses  of  the  College  de  Clermont,  passing  his  vacations  at 
Chantilly,  whither  his  tutors  always  accompanied  him. 

All  the  masters  and  professors  under  whom  the  boy  studied 
were  vigorously  seconded  by  Conde,  who  maintained  with  them 
an  almost  daily  correspondence,  while  he  was  continually 
exhorting  his  grandson  to  apply  himself  to  his  studies.  The 
Due  de  Bourbon,  however,  though  he  was  not  without  ability, 
was  incurably  indolent,  and,  despite  all  the  efforts  of  his 
teachers  and  the  reprimands  of  Monsieur  le  Prince,  his  progress 
both  at  the  College  de  Clermont  and  at  Louis-le-Grand,  to 
which  he  was  transferred  when  he  was  fourteen,  was  most  dis- 
appointing. It  was  evident  that  Condd  had  not  taken  into 
sufficient  consideration  the  great  difference  in  temperament 
between  himself  and  his  grandson,  and  that  a  system  which  had 
produced  such  splendid  results  in  his  own  case  was  quite 
unsuited  to  this  idle,  pleasure-loving  lad. 

The  duke  was  accordingly  removed  from  college,  and,  on 
the  advice  of  Bossuet,  Conde  decided  to  keep  him  under  his 
own  eye  at  Chantilly,  and  to  entrust  the  rest  of  his  education 
to  La  Bruyere  and  the  distinguished  mathematician  Sauveur. 
This  plan  worked  excellently  for  some  months,  and  Monsieur 
le  Princewas  full  of  hope  ;  but,  unfortunately,  the  Due  d'Enghien, 

1  Jean  Auguste  Deschamps,  Sieur  de  Colecoste. 


262       THE  LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE  CONDES 

to  whom  the  possession  of  the  royal  favour  was  of  infinitely 
more  importance  than  anything  else  in  the  world,  considered 
that  the  time  had  now  arrived  to  bring  his  son  to  the  notice  of 
the  King  and  initiate  him  into  his  duties  as  a  courtier,  and 
desired  that  he  should  pay  occasional  visits  to  Versailles. 
These  visits,  which,  on  some  pretext  or  other,  were  frequently 
prolonged  far  beyond  the  limit  which  Conde  had  fixed,  naturally 
did  not  make  for  the  young  gentleman's  progress  in  his  studies, 
for,  though  his  tutors  always  accompanied  him,  he  soon  became 
so  absorbed  in  the  pleasures  of  the  Court  that  they  thought 
themselves  fortunate  if  they  could  obtain  from  him  an  occasional 
hour  of  distracted  attention.  La  Bruyere  was  in  despair  and 
appealed  to  Monsieur  le  Prince,  who  remonstrated  vigorously 
with  Enghien.  "Your  son,"  he  writes,  "will  become  a  very 
good  huntsman,  but  ignorant  of  everything  that  he  ought  to 
know.  It  is  for  you  to  remedy  it,  and  to  think  of  his  life,  his 
health,  and  his  good  education.  I  beg  you  to  consider  it,  and 
not  to  wait  to  remedy  it  until  it  is  too  late." 

Conde  and  Enghien  were,  however,  at  cross-purposes  ;  the 
one  wished  to  form  a  man,  a  prince,  a  captain  ;  the  other 
thought  only  of  making  his  son  an  accomplished  courtier. 
That  the  hope  of  the  Condes  should  be  an  invariable  guest  at 
Marly  was  in  the  latter's  eyes  a  more  desirable  thing  than  that 
he  should  command  armies  ;  that  he  should  secure  the  reversion 
of  the  governments  and  offices  which  had  been  bestowed  upon 
his  father  was  of  more  importance  than  that  he  should  inherit 
his  grandsire's  fame. 

It  must  be  admitted  that  Enghien  was  indefatigable  in  his 
endeavours  to  further  what  he  conceived  to  be  the  interests  of 
his  son.  "With  the  prudence  and  calculation  of  an  officer 
experienced  in  sieges,  he  pursued  his  plan,  seeking  to  take  pos- 
session of  all  the  avenues  which  could  conduct  him  to  the  heart 
of  the  King  ;  hunting  and  shooting-parties,  masquerades,  ballets, 
fetes  at  Marly,  served  him  as  approach-works  ;  a  direct  attack 
that  he  was  preparing  could  not  fail  to  assure  for  his  son  the 
royal  favour."1 

1  Due  d'Aumale,  M  Ilistoirc  des  Princes  de  Conde.  " 


MARRIAGE  OF  THE   DUC   DE   BOURBON     263 

This  "direct  attack,"  which  was  delivered  in  June,  1684, 
on  the  occasion  of  the  visit  which  Louis  XIV.  paid  to 
Chantilly,  on  his  return  from  the  siege  of  Luxembourg,  took 
the  form  of  demanding  for  the  Due  de  Bourbon  the  hand  of 
Mile,  de  Nantes,  the  elder  of  the  King's  two  surviving  daughters 
by  Madame  de  Montespan,  who  had  celebrated  her  eleventh 
birthday  a  few  days  previously.  To  the  intense  joy  of  Monsieur 
le  Due,  it  was  completely  successful,  and  his  Majesty  graciously 
consented  to  bestow  the  hand  of  his  legitimated  daughter  on 
the  heir  of  the  Condes.  Owing,  however,  to  the  tender  age  of 
the  young  lady,  the  arrrangement  remained  a  secret  for  some 
months,  and  it  was  not  until  the  following  April  that  it  was 
made  public. 

This  was  not  the  first  alliance  between  the  fruit  of  le  Grand 
Monarques  amours  and  the  Princes  of  the  Blood.  In  January, 
1684,  Conde's  nephew  and  ward  the  young  Prince  de  Conti1 
had  espoused  Louise  de  la  Valliere's  daughter,  Mile,  de  Blois, 
on  which  occasion,  we  learn  from  Madame  de  Sevigne  that 
Monsieur  le  Prince,  who  had  always  clung  to  the  bygone  fashion 
of  moustaches  and  a  chin-tuft,  astonished  the  Court  by  appear- 
ing clean-shaven,  with  his  hair  curled  and  powdered,  and  a 
justaucorps  adorned  with  diamond  buttons.2  But,  although  Conde 
approved  of  the  marriage  arranged  for  his  grandson,  he  was  far 
from  approving  of  the  latter  interrupting  his  studies  to  take 
upon  himself  conjugal  responsibilities.  However,  such  was  the 
Monsieur  le  Duds  impatience  to  see  the  young  prince  become 
the  son-in-law  of  the  King   that  he   ultimately   withdrew   his 

1  Louis  Armand  de  Bourbon  (1661-1685).  He  must  not  be  confused  with  his 
younger,  and  far  more  celebrated  brother,  Francois  Louis  de  Bourbon  (1664-1709) 
who  succeeded  him  in  the  title,  up  to  which  time  he  was  known  as  the  Prince  de  la 
Roche-sur-Yon. 

=  "  I  will  tell  you  a  great  piece  of  news  ;  it  is  that  Monsieur  le  Prince  was 
shaved  yesterday.  This  is  no  mere  rumour  or  gossip;  it  is  a  fact  :  all  the  Court 
witnessed  it  ;  and  Madame  de  Langeron,  choosing  the  time  when  he  had  his  paws 
folded  like  a  lion,  made  him  put  on  a  justaucorps  with  diamond  buttons.  A  valet  de 
chambre  also,  taking  advantage  of  his  patience,  curled  his  hair,  powdered  it,  and  at 
last  reduced  him  into  being  only  the  best-looking  man  at  Court,  and  with  a  head  of 
hair  that  puts  all  wigs  out  of  competition.  This  was  the  prodigy  of  the  wedding.''— 
Letter  of  17  January,  16S0. 


264       THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   COND&S 

objections,  and  Louis  XIV.  having  also  proved  complaisant,  the 
marriage  was  celebrated,  in  the  chapel  at  Versailles,  on  24  July, 
1685. 

So  far  as  people  were  able  to  judge  from  features  which 
were  hardly  yet  formed,  the  twelve-year-old  bride  gave  promise 
of  being  very  pretty  ;  and  this  promise  was  duly  fulfilled.  As 
much  could  not  be  said  for  the  bridegroom.  Both  the  Due  and 
Duchesse  d'Enghien  were  short,  though  of  no  unusual  diminutive- 
ness,  but  their  son  was  almost  a  dwarf,1  and  a  very  ugly  one  to 
boot,  with  an  abnormally  large  head,  an  unwholesome  com- 
plexion, and  a  surly  expression. 

The  union  of  these  two  marionettes,  as  the  Marquis  de 
Sourches  calls  them,  was  celebrated  with  extreme  magnificence, 
and  "the  Great  Conde  and  his  son  left  nothing  undone  to  testify 
their  joy,  just  as  they  had  left  nothing  undone  to  bring  about 
the  marriage."  2  The  King  secured  to  the  duke  the  reversion 
of  all  the  offices  held  by  his  father  and  gave  him  a  pension  of 
90,000  livres,  and  to  his  daughter  one  of  100,000  livres. 

In  the  evening,  the  happy  pair  proceeded  to  the  pretended 
consummation  of  their  marriage,  without  which  the  ceremony 
through  which  they  had  just  passed  would  not  have  been  con- 
sidered binding.  In  the  presence  of  the  King  and  all  their 
relatives,  they  entered  a  state  bed,  where  they  remained  for  half 
an  hour,  the  Duchesse  d'Enghien  standing  by  the  bridegroom's 
side,  and  Madame  de  Montespan  by  that  of  the  bride.  This 
solemn  farce  terminated,  they  separated,  not  to  meet  again  for 
several  months,  except  in  the  presence  of  witnesses  ;  and  the  Due 
de  Bourbon  went  back  to  his  interrupted  studies,  which  Monsieur 
le  Prince  had  insisted  on  his  continuing. 

The  year  which  saw  the  marriage  of  the  Due  de  Bourbon 
marks  a  very  important  event  in  the  life  of  his  grandfather.  The 
religious  instruction  of  Conde"  had  been  as  thorough  as  the 
other  branches  of  his  education,  and,  in  early  youth,  he  appears 
to  have  been  as  orthodox  a  Catholic  as  any  one  could  desire, 

1  The  Great  Conde,  who  was  tall,  used  to  say,  laughing,  that,  if  his  race  thus 
continued  to  dwindle,  it  would  at  last  come  to  nothing. 

2  "Souvenirs  et  Correspondancede  Madame  de  Caylus." 


[.oris  in.  i>rc  dk  r.oi'Ri:o\.   i-kinct:  i>k  i'onih;  kai.i.kh 

MON'SIKUK    IK    l)l"(") 

I   U    i\l     A    O  IN  I"  KM  !  ■  '[;  AKY    I'KIN   I 


CONVERSION   OF  COND&  265 

and  even  to  have  shown  some  degree  of  fervour.  However,  his 
life  of  war  and  pleasures  soon  brought  indifference,  and  the 
society  of  fashionable  freethinkers,  like  Saint-£vremond  and  the 
celebrated  Princess  Palatine,  combined  with  the  difficulty  he 
experienced  in  reconciling  the  doctrines  of  the  philosophers 
whose  works  he  was  fond  of  studying  with  the  theological 
teaching  of  the  time,  raised  doubts  in  his  mind  which  eventually 
led  to  a  very  pronounced  form  of  unbelief.  At  the  same  time, 
he  declared  himself  to  be  always  open  to  conviction  of  his  errors, 
and  one  of  his  favourite  occupations  in  his  later  years  was  to 
engage  in  theological  discussions  with  Bossuet,  the  Oratorian 
Malbranche,  and  other  eminent  divines. 

The  death  of  his  beloved  sister,  Madame  de  Longueville,  who, 
in  April,  1679,  crowned  twenty-seven  years  of  penitence  and  good 
works  by  a  truly  Christian  death,  at  which  Conde  was  himself 
present,  made  a  profound  impression  upon  him,  and  he  was  even 
more  impressed  by  that  of  his  old  friend,  the  Princess  Palatine, 
who,  after  declaring  that  the  greatest  of  all  miracles  would  be 
her  conversion  to  Christianity,  had  for  the  last  twelve  years  been 
leading  a  life  of  almost  equal  devotion.  From  that  time,  the 
discussions  between  Conde  and  Bossuet  became  more  frequent, 
and  little  by  little  the  prince  began  to  surmount  the  obstacles 
which  barred  his  return  to  the  fold. 

It  was,  however,  a  Jesuit,  Pere  des  Champs,  formerly  a  fellow- 
pupil  of  Conde  at  Bourges,  who  was  to  finish  the  work  which  the 
great  bishop  had  begun.  At  the  beginning  of  Holy  Week,  1685, 
the  prince  summoned  him  to  Chantilly ;  for  several  days  they 
remained  closeted  together,  after  which  Conde  descended  to  the 
chapel  and  received  the  Sacrament,  in  the  presence  of  all  his 
Household.  Some  weeks  later,  he  communicated  publicly  at  the 
Church  of  Saint-Sulpice,  in  which  parish  the  Hotel  de  Conde 
was  situated. 

For  some  time  past  Conde's  health  had  been  such  as  to 
occasion  grave  anxiety  ;  his  attacks  of  gout  were  becoming  more 
frequent  and  more  severe,  and  he  was  often  so  feeble  that  he 
was  unable  to  walk  without  assistance.  When ,  at  the  end  of 
May,  1686,  although  in  great  pain,  he  insisted  on  coming  to 


266      THE  LOVE-AFFAIRS  OF  THE  COND&S 

Versailles  to  attend  a  Chapter  of  the  Ordre  du  Saint-Esprit,  at 
which  the  cordon  bleu  was  to  be  bestowed  on  the  Due  de  Bourbon 
and  the  Prince  de  Conti,  the  fatigue  which  the  journey  and  the 
ceremony  entailed  exhausted  him  to  such  a  degree  that,  accord- 
ing to  Sourches,  those  present  "  expected  every  moment  to  see 
him  die." 

Towards  the  middle  of  the  following  November,  news  reached 
Chantilly  that  the  little  Duchesse  de  Bourbon  had  been  taken 
seriously  ill  with  small-pox  at  Fontainebleau,  where  the  Court 
was  then  in  residence.  Notwithstanding  that  he  was  again 
suffering  from  the  gout,  Monsieur  le  Prince  at  once  ordered  his 
coach  and  set  off  for  Fontainebleau.  On  the  road  he  met  the 
Due  de  Bourbon  and  his  eldest  sister,  Mile,  de  Conde,  whom  the 
King  had  sent  to  Paris,  so  that  they  should  not  be  exposed  to 
the  contagion.  Alarmed  at  their  grandfather's  appearance,  they 
endeavoured  to  persuade  him  to  turn  back,  but  he  insisted  on 
continuing  the  journey.  Arrived  at  Fontainebleau,  he  shut 
himself  up  with  the  Duchesse  de  Bourbon  and  "  rendered  her 
all  the  cares  not  only  of  a  tender  father,  but  of  a  zealous 
guardian."  1  The  girl,  however,  grew  worse,  and  Louis  XIV., 
on  learning  of  his  daughter's  danger,  wished  to  come  and  see 
her.  "Monsieur  le  Prince"  writes  Madame  de  Caylus,  "placed 
himself  at  the  door  to  prevent  him  entering,  and  there  ensued  a 
great  struggle  between  parental  love  and  the  zeal  of  a  courtier, 
very  glorious  for  Madame  la  Duchesse"  The  writer  adds  that 
the  King,  being  the  stronger,  went  in,  notwithstanding  Conde's 
resistance,  but,  according  to  other  chroniclers,  his  Majesty  was 
so  touched  by  his  cousin's  zeal  for  his  safety  that  he  ended  by 
allowing  him  to  have  his  way. 

Soon  after  this  incident,  the  Duchesse  de  Bourbon's  illness 
took  a  turn  for  the  better,  and  at  the  end  of  a  fortnight  she  was 
pronounced  convalescent.  Conde's  presence  was  no  longer 
necessary ;  but  the  change  in  his  manner  of  life,  the  sleepless 
nights,  the  fatigue  and  the  anxiety  he  had  endured,  had  been 
too  much  for  an  old  man  whose  constitution  was  already  so 
shattered,  and  it  was  evident  that    his  days  were   numbered. 

1  "  Souvenirs et  Correspondance  de  Madame  de  Caylus." 


DEATH   OF  CONDE  267 

He  had  expressed  a  wish  to  die  at  Chantilly,  and  it  was  hoped 
that  it  might  be  possible  to  gratify  it.  But,  on  the  morning  of 
10  December,  he  became  much  weaker,  and  was  warned  that  it 
was  time  to  think  of,  the  Sacraments.  He  desired  that  Pere 
des  Champs  should  be  summoned  from  Paris,  and,  turning  to 
Gourville,  observed  :  "  Ah  well !  my  friend,  I  believe  my  journey 
will  be  a  longer  one  than  we  thought.  But  I  wish  to  write  to 
the  King."  And,  after  a  vain  attempt  to  write  himself,  he 
dictated  to  his  confessor,  Pere  Bergier,  a  letter  to  Louis  XIV.,  to 
implore  his  pardon  for  the  Prince  de  Conti,  who  had  been  for 
some  time  in  disgrace  and  seemed  likely  to  remain  there. 

In  the  middle  of  the  night,  feeling  worse,  he  made  his  con- 
fession and  received  absolution  from  Pere  Bergier,  Pere  des 
Champs  not  having  yet  arrived,  and  at  daybreak  the  cure  of 
Fontainebleau  brought  him  the  Viaticum.  Shortly  afterwards, 
Monsieur  le  Due  arrived  with  the  news  that  the  King  had,  on 
his  own  initiative,  pardoned  the  Prince  de  Conti,  for  the  letter 
which  Monsieur  le  Prince  had  dictated  the  previous  day  had  not 
yet  been  despatched.  This  intelligence  was  a  great  relief  to 
Conde,  who  caused  a  few  lines  to  be  added  to  the  letter,  thanking 
his  Majesty  for  his  kindness  and  assuring  him  that  he  should 
now  die  content. 

Conti  and  Pere  des  Champs  arrived  a  little  later,  and,  with 
the  Due  and  Duchesse  d'Enghien,  remained  with  him  to  the 
end,  which  came  very  peacefully  between  seven  and  eight  o'clock 
in  the  evening.  "No  one,"  wrote  the  British  Ambassador,  the 
Earl  of  Arran,  to  his  Government,  "  ever  died  with  less  concern, 
and  he  preserved  his  senses  to  the  last  minute." 

After  lying  for  some  days  in  the  mortuary  chapel  at  Fon- 
tainebleau, which  had  been  transformed  into  a  chapelle  ardente, 
the  body  of  Conde  was  conveyed  to  Valery  and  interred  in  the 
family  vault.  His  heart  was  deposited  in  the  Jesuit  church 
in  the  Rue  Saint-Antoine.  "  In  carrying  to  the  same  place  the 
heart  of  my  uncle,  the  Comte  de  Clermont,"  writes  his  great- 
grandson,  "  I  had  an  opportunity  of  seeing  all  the  hearts  of  our 
ancestors,  which  were  deposited  there,  enclosed  in  silver-gilt 
cases  ;  and  I  remarked  (as  did  also  those  who  accompanied  me) 


268       THE  LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   COND&S 

that  the  heart  of  the  Great  Conde"  was  nearly  double  the  size  of 
all  the  others." * 

On  10  March,  1687,  a  solemn  service  was  held  at  Notre-Dame. 
The  funeral  oration,  pronounced  by  Bossuet,  is  generally  con- 
sidered the  masterpiece  of  that  famous  preacher,  and  is  the 
greatest  of  all  the  tributes  rendered  to  the  memory  of  Conde. 

"  At  that  moment "  (during  his  last  hours),  exclaimed  the 
orator,  "he  (Cond£)  extended  his  consideration  to  the  most 
humble  of  his  servants.  With  a  liberality  worthy  of  his  birth  and 
of  their  services,  he  left  them  overwhelmed  with  gifts,  but  still 
more  honoured  by  the  proofs  of  his  remembrance."  But  for  the 
woman  who  had  so  gloriously  borne  his  name,  who  had  so  uncom- 
plainingly shared  his  misfortunes,  Cond6,  on  his  deathbed,  had 
not  a  word  of  tenderness,  of  gratitude,  or  of  pardon.  Nay,  if 
we  are  to  believe  la  Grande  Mademoiselle,  on  the  morrow  of 
his  master's  death,  Gourville  carried  to  Louis  XIV.  a  letter 
written  some  time  before,  to  be  given  him  after  that  event,  in 
which  Conde  entreated  the  King  never  to  allow  the  princess  to 
leave  her  prison  at  Chateauroux.2 

However  that  may  be,  Claire-Clemence  never  quitted  that 
gloomy  fortress,  either  living  or  dead  ;  for,  when  she  died,  after 
surviving  her  husband  more  than  seven  years  (18  April,  1694), 
she  was  interred  in  the  Church  of  Saint-Martin,  which  lay 
within  the  precincts  of  the  chateau.  "  No  member  of  her  illus- 
trious family  appears  to  have  attended  her  obsequies,  and  doubt- 
less the  twelve  poor  people  whom  she  had  had  the  charity  to 
maintain  out  of  her  meagre  allowance,  with  some  Capuchins 
from  the  neighbouring  convent,  were  the  only  persons  who  came 
to  pray  over  the  grave  of  her  who,  for  her  misfortune,  had 
become  "  the  very  high,  very  excellent  and  puissant  Princesse 
de  CondeV' 3 

1  Louis  Joseph  de  Bourbon,  Prince  de  Conde,  "  Histoire  de  la  Maison  de 
Bourbon." 

2  Mademoiselle  de  Montpensier,  "  Memoires." 

3  MM.  Homberg  &  Jousselin,  "  la  Femme  du  Grand  Conde."  During  the  Revolu- 
tion, some  ruffians  forced  open  the  chapel  in  which  was  the  tomb  of  the  unfortunate 
princess,  carried  off  the  leaden  coffin  and  scattered  its  contents. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

Henri-Jules  de  Bourbon,  fifth  Prince  de  Conde — His  affection  for 
Chantilly— Improvements  which  he  executes  there — The  "  Galerie  des 
Batailles" — His  business  capacity — His  relations  with  his  son,  the  Due  de 
Bourbon  (Monsieur  le  Due) — Character  of  this  prince — His  ungovernable 
temper  and  vindictiveness — His  intrigue  with  Madame  de  Mussy — She 
betrays  him  for  the  Comte  d'Albert — A  violent  scene — Madame  de  Mussy 
follows  her  new  lover  to  Spain — Her  sad  fate — Other  amours  of  Monsieur 
le  Due — Character  of  Madame  la  Duchesse — Her  intrigue  with  the  Prince  de 
Conti — Her  grief  at  his  premature  death — Last  years  of  the  Prince  de  Conde 
— His  eccentricity  becomes  hardly  distinguishable  from  madness — Anecdotes 
concerning  him— His  death — His  last  instructions  to  his  son — The  Due  de 
Bourbon  retains  his  title,  instead  of  assuming  that  of  Prince  de  Condd — His 
sudden  death,  eleven  months  after  that  of  his  father. 

THE  son  and  grandson  of  the  Great  Conde  have  left  but 
few  traces  in  history,  and  the  little  which  is  recorded 
of  them  does  not,  as  a  rule,  redound  to  their  credit. 
Succeeding  to  the  offices  as  well  as  to  the  titles  of  his  father, 
Henri-Jules  de  Bourbon  was  appointed  colonel  of  the  infantry 
Regiment  of  Conde  and  mestre  de  camp  of  the  cavalry  corps  of 
the  same  name,  and  took  part  in  several  campaigns,  being 
present  at  the  capture  of  Mons  in  1691,  and  of  Namur  in  the 
following  year.  During  the  latter  part  of  the  campaign  of  1692, 
he  was  nominally  second  in  command  of  the  Army  of  Flanders, 
but  no  opportunity  for  distinction  seems  to  have  come  his  way, 
and  soon  afterwards  ill-health  obliged  him  to  retire  from  active 
service.  Henceforth,  he  divided  his  time  between  the  Court, 
Paris,  and  Chantilly,  though,  as  he  grew  older,  the  Court  appears 
to  have  lost  the  attraction  it  had  once  had  for  him,  and,  when 
there,  he  remained  most  of  the  day  in  his  apartments,  only 
emerging  to  attend  the  King  at  his  lever  and  coucher,  or  to 
visit  the  Ministers,  whom,  when  he  happened  to  want  anything 

2G9 


270      THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF    THE   CONDfiS 

from  them,  it  was  his  habit  to  importune  to  the  verge  of 
distraction. 

Chantilly  was  "his  delight."  When  he  walked  in  the 
gardens,  he  was  followed  by  four  secretaries,  to  whom  he 
dictated  any  ideas  which  occurred  to  him  for  the  improvement 
of  the  chateau  or  the  estate.  He  spent  immense  sums  upon 
them,  and  with  the  happiest  results,  for  he  possessed  the  most 
exquisite  taste.  It  was  he  who  finished  the  parish  church, 
erected  upon  land  which  had  been  given  by  his  father  to  the 
inhabitants  of  the  town,  completed  the  Menagerie,  and  built 
the  gallery  in  the  Petit  Chateau,  the  Galerie  des  Batailles.  In 
the  pictures  representing  the  history  of  the  Great  Conde  which 
by  his  orders  were  painted  for  it,  he  was  very  reluctant  to  omit 
the  actions  which  Conde  had  performed  when  in  command  of 
the  armies  of  Spain.  At  the  same  time,  he  felt  that  he  could 
not  venture  to  expose  to  the  eyes  of  Frenchmen  the  exploits 
which  had  been  directed  against  themselves.  The  painter 
professed  himself  unable  to  suggest  any  means  of  reconciling 
his  patron's  wishes  with  his  scruples,  but,  at  length,  the  prince 
bethought  himself  of  a  most  ingenious  way  out  of  the  difficulty. 
He  caused  a  picture  to  be  painted  in  which  the  Muse  of  History 
was  represented  tearing  with  indignation,  and  flinging  far  away 
from  her,  the  pages  of  a  book  which  she  held  in  her  hands. 
On  these  pages  were  inscribed  :  "  The  Relief  of  Cambrai  "  ; 
"  The  Relief  of  Valenciennes "  ;  "  The  Retreat  from  before 
Arras  "  ;  while  in  the  centre  of  the  picture  stood  the  Great 
Conde,  endeavouring  to  impose  silence  on  Fame,  who,  with 
trumpet  in  hand,  was  proclaiming  his  exploits  against  France.1 

The  prince  could  well  afford  to  indulge  his  taste  for  the 
embellishment  of  Chantilly,  since  he  had  inherited  the  business 
acumen  of  his  grandfather  and  amassed  a  great'  fortune,  though, 
according  to  Saint-Simon,  he  was  "  a  beggar  in  comparison  with 
those  who  came  after  him."  He  does  not  appear  to  have  been 
over  scrupulous  in  his  methods  of  acquiring  wealth,  and  made  a 
practice  of  lending  large  sums  to  the  members  of  the  Parlement 

1  Desormeaux,  "  Histoire  de  la  Maison  de  Bourbon  "  j  Stanhope,  "  Life  of  Louis, 
Prince  de  Conde,  surnamed  the  Great." 


AN   UNPLEASANT  PERSONAGE  271 

of  Paris,  in  order  to  ensure  their  support  in  the  lawsuits  in 
which  he  was  perpetually  engaged,  in  view  of  which  it  is  not 
surprising  to  learn  that  it  was  very  rarely  that  a  verdict  was 
given  against  him. 

With  his  son,  who,  on  the  death  of  the  Great  Conde,  had 
retained  the  title  of  Due  de  Bourbon,  instead  of  assuming  that 
of  Enghien,  which  both  his  grandfather  and  father  had  borne, 
but  was  now  officially  styled  Monsieur  le  Due,  he  appears  to 
have  been  on  anything  but  cordial  terms,  though  the  harshness 
with  which  he  sometimes  treated  him  was  tempered  by  a  whole- 
some fear  of  the  King,  whose  son-in-law  he  was.  It  must  be 
admitted,  however,  that  the  Due  de  Bourbon  was  scarcely  the 
kind  of  son  to  inspire  affection,  even  in  a  parent  with  an 
infinitely  greater  capacity  for  it  than  Monsieur  le  Prince 
possessed.  Not  only  was  he  almost  repulsive  in  appearance, 
but  he  was  cursed  with  so  violent  a  temper  that  it  was 
positively  dangerous  to  contradict  him.  One  evening,  when 
entertaining  some  friends  at  Saint-Maur,  he  had  an  argument 
with  the  Comte  de  Fiesque  over  some  historical  incident. 
When  the  count  refused  to  admit  that  he  was  wrong,  Monsieur 
le  Due  sprang  to  his  feet  in  a  violent  rage,  and,  snatching  up  a 
plate,  hurled  it  at  his  guest's  head,  and  then  turned  him  out  of 
the  house,  although,  having  been  invited  to  stay  the  night,  he 
had  sent  away  his  coach.  The  unfortunate  Fiesque  was  obliged 
to  make  his  way  to  the  house  of  the  cure  of  the  parish  and  beg 
a  bed  from  him. 

He  was,  moreover,  exceedingly  vindictive,  and  any  one 
whom  he  even  suspected  of  doing  him  an  ill  turn  speedily  had 
cause  to  rue  it.  Thus,  on  one  occasion,  having  reason  to  believe 
that  a  certain  escapade  of  his  in  Paris,  which  had  earned  him  a 
severe  reprimand  from  his  royal  father-in-law,  had  been  brought 
to  the  King's  notice  by  the  Marquis  de  Termes,  one  of  his 
Majesty's  premiers  valets  de  chambre,  he  despatched  several  of 
his  servants,  armed  with  stout  canes,  to  lie  in  wait  for  the 
supposed  informer.  They  ambushed  him  successfully  and  admin- 
istered so  unmerciful  a  castigation  that  he  was  obliged  to  keep 
his  bed  for  several  days. 


272       THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   CONDfiS 

Saint-Simon  accuses  him  of  a  love  of  brutal  practical  jokes, 
and  asserts  that  the  death  of  the  Latin  poet  Santeuil,  at  Dijon, 
in  1694,  was  due  to  his  having  given  him  a  glass  of  champagne 
into  which  he  had  emptied  the  contents  of  his  snuff-box.  But 
we  can  find  no  confirmation  of  this  story,  and  probably  there 
is  no  more  truth  in  it  than  in  a  good  many  other  of  Saint- 
Simon's  anecdotes. 

Notwithstanding  the  indolence  which  in  his  youth  had  been 
the  despair  of  his  tutors,  the  pains  bestowed  upon  his  education 
had  been  by  no  means  wasted,  and  even  his  enemy  Saint-Simon 
is  fain  to  admit  that  he  was  a  well-read  and  intelligent  man. 
In  war  his  abilities  were  infinitely  superior  to  those  of  his 
father,  and  had  he  enjoyed,  like  him,  the  advantage  of  the  Great 
Conde's  training,  it  is  quite  probable  that  he  would  have  made  a 
name  for  himself,  that  is  to  say,  if  Louis  XIV.,  who  had  little 
liking  for  his  son-in-law,  could  ever  have  been  persuaded  to 
entrust  him  with  an  independent  command.  Between  1688 
and  the  Peace  of  Ryswick  he  served  in  several  campaigns,  and 
proved  himself  a  very  capable  officer,  as  well  as  displaying 
brilliant  courage,  notably  at  the  siege  of  Namur  and  in  the 
battles  of  Steenkirke  and  Neerwinden.  In  the  campaigns  of 
the  War  of  the  Spanish  Succession  he  took  no  part,  and  it 
would  seem  that,  in  spite  of  his  military  talents,  or  perhaps 
because  of  them,  Louis  XIV.  did  not  desire  to  employ  him. 

With  his  wife  Monsieur  le  Due  lived  on  good  terms,  though, 
in  common  with  most  aristocratic  husbands  of  the  time,  he 
unfortunately  found  it  impossible  to  concentrate  his  affections 
upon  their  lawful  object.  Of  his  mistresses  the  most  noted  was 
the  beautiful  Madame  de  Mussy.  She  was  a  little  woman,  but 
exquisitely  shaped,  "  with  a  dazzling  complexion  and  ravishing 
arms  and  bosom."  The  wife  of  a  counsellor  to  the  Parlement 
of  Dijon,  "  who  was  too  much  in  love  with  the  wine  of  Beaune 
to  guard  a  treasure  so  difficult  to  defend,"  Monsieur  le  Due  had 
met  her  when  he  was  presiding  over  the  Estates  of  Burgundy 
in  place  of  his  father,  and,  profiting  by  her  husband's  addiction 
to  the  bottle,  had  paid  her  a  court  which  was  soon  crowned  with 
success.     When,  at  length,  the  bibulous  counsellor  learned  what 


ROMANTIC   HISTORY  OF  MME.  DE  MUSSY   273 

had  been  going  on  under  his  very  nose,  he  was  furious,  and 
"  carried  his  resentment  even  so  far  as  to  give  his  wife  several 
blows."  His  violence  furnished  the  lady  with  a  pretext  for 
leaving  him  which  she  was  not  slow  to  seize,  and,  while  M.  de 
Mussy  was  petitioning  the  Parlement  of  Dijon  for  a  decree 
empowering  him  to  have  her  shut  up  in  a  convent,  she  effected 
her  escape,  followed  her  lover  to  Paris,  and  threw  herself  upon 
his  protection.  This  the  prince  readily  promised,  and,  shortly 
afterwards,  Madame  de  Mussy  found  herself  the  occupant  of 
a  luxuriously-furnished  house  in  the  precincts  of  the  Temple, 
where  she  was  soon  surrounded  by  a  little  Court,  which  was 
composed  not  only  of  the  Marquis  de  la  Fare,  the  Abbe 
Chaulieu,  the  Comte  de  Fiesque  and  other  friends  of  Monsieur 
le  Dae,  but  also  of  several  ladies  of  the  Court,  such  as  the 
Duchesse  de  Bouillon  and  the  Marquise  de  Bellefonds,  who 
were  not  too  particular  what  company  they  kept,  so  long  as  it 
was  sufficiently  amusing. 

La  petite  Mussy,  if  she  had  been  prudent,  might  have  con- 
tinued to  live  a  life  of  luxury  and  pleasure  for  many  years,  for 
the  passion  which  she  had  inspired  in  the  heart  of  Monsieur  le 
Due  was  no  ephemeral  one.  But,  unfortunately  for  her,  she 
happened  to  meet,  one  night  at  the  Opera,  that  notorious  lady- 
killer,  the  Comte  d'Albert,  who,  after  being  banished  from 
France,  on  account  of  his  intrigue  with  Madame  de  Luxem- 
bourg, had  recently  been  expelled  from  Brussels,  for  making 
himself  too  agreeable  to  the  Mile.  Maupin — the  heroine  of 
Theophile  Gauthier's  romance — then  mistress  of  the  Elector  of 
Bavaria. 

The  count,  having  no  other  amorous  engagement  on  hand  just 
then,  decided  to  make  a  conquest  of  Madame  de  Mussy.  The 
task  was,  of  course,  easy  enough  for  a  gentleman  who,  we  are 
assured,  had  only  to  show  himself  to  ensure  an  immediate 
capitulation,  and  soon  Madame  de  Mussy  had  become  as  in- 
different to  her  titular  lover  as  she  had  formerly  been  to  her 
husband.  Monsieur  le  Due,  "finding  that  she  no  longer 
responded  to  his  caresses  with  her  accustomed  ardour,"  had  her 
watched,  and  ere  long  discovered  the  truth.     His  wrath  was 

T 


274       THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   COND&S 

terrible,  though,  happily,  he  contented  himself  by  venting  it  upon 
the  furniture,  mirrors,  and  porcelain  of  his  perfidious  mistress, 
among  which  he  raged  with  such  fury  that  in  a  few  moments 
the  apartment  was  strewn  with  the  wreckage  of  what  had 
represented  a  comfortable  little  fortune. 

Madame  de  Mussy,  whom  love  for  her  fascinating  count  had 
inspired  with  a  courage  of  which  she  might  not  have  other- 
wise been  capable,  boldly  faced  the  storm,  and  informed  the 
infuriated  prince  that  "  she  was  not  his  wife,  that  he  had  nothing 
wherewith  to  reproach  her,  and  that  she  was  in  love  with  the 
Comte  d' Albert,  who  was  far  more  amiable  than  his  Highness, 
as  he  might  judge  for  himself  by  taking  the  trouble  to  look  in  a 
mirror." 

Monsieur  le  Due,  beside  himself  with  passion,  swore  that  he 
would  hand  her  over  to  her  husband,  who  would  take  good  care 
to  have  her  shut  up  in  a  convent  for  the  rest  of  her  days,  and 
took  his  departure,  vowing  vengeance. 

Knowing  enough  of  the  vindictive  character  of  the  prince  to 
be  aware  that  this  threat  was  no  idle  one,  Madame  de  Mussy 
recognized  that  she  ought  not  to  lose  a  moment  in  placing  her- 
self beyond  his  reach.  The  Comte  d'Albert,  now  reinstated  in 
the  good  graces  of  the  Elector  of  Bavaria,  had  recently  set  out 
for  Madrid,  where  he  had  been  appointed  that  prince's  envoy, 
and  she  at  once  resolved  to  follow  him  thither.  That  same 
night,  accompanied  by  her  confidential  femme  de  chambre  and 
subsequent  historian,  Mile.  Valdory,  she  left  Paris,  disguised  in 
masculine  attire,  and,  after  many  adventures,  for  the  War  of  the 
Succession  was  then  raging  in  Spain,  reached  Madrid  in  safety. 
She  had  expected  to  find  there  the  Comte  d'Albert  and 
consolation  for  her  hardships  and  misfortunes  in  his  arms  ;  but 
not  only  was  she  deceived  in  this  hope,  but  she  learned  that 
her  lover  was  false  to  her,  and  that  he  had  recently  con- 
sented, doubtless  for  a  substantial  consideration,  to  make  an 
honest  woman  of  Mile,  de  Montigny,  a  cast-off  mistress 
of  the  Elector  of  Bavaria.  Worn  out  by  the  fatigues  and 
privations  she  had  suffered  during  her  journey  from  Paris, 
devoured  by  jealousy,  and  tortured  by  remorse,  the  unhappy 


PORTRAIT   OF  MME.    LA   DUCHESSE         275 

Madame  de  Mussy  fell  into  a  decline  and  died  six  months 
later.1 

As  for  Monsieur  le  Due,  he  consoled  himself  for  his  mistress's 
perfidy  by  a  liaison  with  Madame  de  Rupelmonde — the  wife  of 
a  Flemish  gentleman  in  the  Spanish  service — whom  Saint-Simon 
describes  as  "  brown  as  a  cow  and  possessed  of  unparalleled  impu- 
dence." To  this  lady  succeeded  a  certain  Madame  Locmaria, 
who  was  soon  replaced,  in  her  turn,  by  the  pretty  daughter  of 
an  upholsterer  in  the  Rue  des  Fosses-Monsieur-le-Prince.2 

Madame  la  Duchesse,  however,  had  certainly  no  right  to  take 
exception  to  her  husband's  little  affairs,  for,  though  Madame  de 
Caylus  assures  us  that  she  "  lived  with  him  like  an  angel,"  it 
would  seem  that  her  marriage  vows  sat  very  lightly  upon  her. 
This  daughter  of  Madame  de  Montespan  was  an  exceedingly 
pretty,  accomplished,  and  charming  young  woman  ;  but,  if  she 
had  inherited  her  mother's  beauty,  intelligence,  and  fascination, 
she  had  also  her  full  share  of  that  too  celebrated  lady's  less 
agreeable  qualities,  being  selfish,  extravagant,  and  deceitful, 
while  her  mordant  wit  made  her  universally,  dreaded.  "  Her 
wit  shines  in  her  eyes,"  writes  Madame ;  "but  there  is  some 
malignity  in  them  also.  I  always  say  that  she  reminds  me  of  a 
pretty  cat  which,  while  you  play  with  it,  lets  you  feel  its  claws." 
"  Although  she  was  slightly  deformed,"  says  Saint-Simon,  "  her 
face  was  formed  by  the  most  tender  loves  and  her  nature  made 
to  dally  with  them.  .  .  .  She  possessed  the  art  of  placing  every 
one  at  their  ease  ;  there  was  nothing  about  her  which  did  not 
tend  naturally  to  please,  with  a  grace  unparalleled,  even  in  her 
slightest  actions.  She  made  captive  even  those  who  had  the 
most  cause  to  fear  her,  and  those  who  had  the  best  of  reasons  to 
hate  her  required  often  to  recall  the  fact  to  resist  her  charms 
.  .  .  Sportive,  gay,  and  merry,  she  passed  her  youth  in  frivolity 
and  in  pleasures  of  all  kinds,3  and,  whenever  the  opportunity 
presented    itself,    they   extended   even   to   debauchery.      With 

1  "  Histoire  de  Madame  de  Muci,"  par  Mile.  B (Valdory),  Amsterdam,  1 731 ; 

"  le  Nouveau  Siecle  de  Louis  XIV.  "  ;  Desnoiresterres,  "  les  Cours  galantes." 

2  "  Memoires  du  Comte  de  Maurepas." 

3  Her  chief  pleasure  appears  to  have  been  gambling,  which  is  scarcely  surprising, 
when  we  consider  that  she  was  the  daughter  of  a  woman  who  had  been  accustomed 


276      THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS  OF  THE   CONDfiS 

these  qualities,  she  possessed  much  intelligence  and  much 
capacity  for  intrigue  and  affairs,  with  a  suppleness  which  cost 
her  nothing.  She  was  scornful,  mocking,  bitterly  sarcastic, 
incapable  of  friendship  and  very  capable  of  hatred  ;  mischievous, 
haughty,  implacable,  prolific  in  base  artifices  and  in  the  most 
cruel  chansons,  with  which  she  gaily  assailed  persons  whom  she 
pretended  to  love  and  who  passed  their  lives  with  her.1  She  was 
the  siren  of  the  poets ;  she  had  all  their  charms  and  all  their  perils." 
The  charms  of  the  young  princess  naturally  drew  around  her 
many  adorers  ;  but,  though  she  had  neither  affection  nor  esteem 
for  her  husband,  and  was  far  from  insensible  to  the  homage 
which  was  paid  her,  her  conduct  would  not  appear  to  have  merited 
any  very  severe  censure  until  some  years  after  her  marriage, 
when  a  sotipirant  presented  himself  whom  it  would  have  been 
difficult  for  any  woman  to  resist.  This  was  Louis  Francois  de 
Bourbon,  Prince  de  Conti,  the  young  man  for  whose  pardon,  it 
will  be  remembered,  the  Great  Conde"  had  petitioned  Louis 
XIV.  on  his  death-bed.  This  pardon  had  unfortunately  been 
a  merely  formal  one,  for  the  prince  had  far  too  much  of  his 
famous  uncle's  temperament,  that  is  to  say,  the  temperament  of 
the  Conde  of  the  Regency  and  the  Fronde,  ever  to  secure  the 
favour  of  le  Grand  Monarque,  who  always  regarded  with 
suspicion  those  who  showed  any  independence  of  character, 
particularly  if  they  happened  to  belong  to  the  Royal  House. 
In  consequence,  though  he  possessed  a  natural  instinct  for  war, 
combined  with  the  most  superb  courage,  and  appeared  destined 
for  a  brilliant  military  career,  nothing  would  induce  the  King 

to  win  and  lose  several  hundred  thousand  francs  at  a  single  sitting,  and  had  on  one 
memorable  occasion  lost  over  two  million.  In  May,  1700,  Dangeau  informs  us  that 
Madame  la  Duchesse  wrote  to  Madame  de  Maintenon  to  tell  her  that  she  had  lost 
"from  10,000  to  12,000  pistoles  [from  100,000  to  120,000  livres],  which  it  was  im- 
possible for  her  to  pay  just  then."  Madame  de  Maintenon  showed  the  letter  to  the 
King  and  begged  him  to  come  to  his  daughter's  assistance.  His  Majesty  consented, 
and,  after  requesting  that  a  detailed  statement  of  the  whole  of  the  lady's  liabilities 
should  be  drawn  up  and  submitted  to  him,  paid  them  in  full,  without  saying  a 
word  to  her  husband,  which  was  distinctly  kind  of  him. 

1  In  the  chansons  attributed  to  her,  some  of  which  are  undeniably  clever,  she 
exercised  her  satirical  wit  at  the  expense  of  the  Due  and  Duchesse  de  Bourgogne, 
Madame  de  Maintenon,  her  husband,  and  even  her  royal  father. 


LOUISE    I  RANi  <  >ISK,    Dl'CHKSSK    l)K.    I'.Ol'RI'.ON    i.CA  I.I.KI  I    MADAM  K 
I. A    Dl'CHKSSK) 

KUlIM    A    C<  I  NT  KM  l'i  iKAKV    1  HINT 


MME.   LA  DUCHESSE  AND   CONTI  277 

to  allow  him  to  hold  high  command,  and  he  had  the  mortifica- 
tion of  seeing  himself  passed  over  in  favour  of  generals  who 
were  manifestly  his  inferiors. 

Conti  was  a  tall  and  rather  awkward-looking  man,  with 
irregular  but  pleasing  features,  and  the  most  charming  manners 
which  made  him  a  universal  favourite.  He  was  married  tc 
Marie  Thcrese  de  Bourbon,  the  eldest  daughter  of  Monsieur  le 
Prince,  who  adored  him  and  of  whom  he  appears  to  have  been 
fond  ;  but  this  did  not  prevent  him  from  falling  in  love  with 
Madame  la  Duchesse,  who  returned  his  passion  with  equal 
fervour.  Monsieur  le  Due  was  furious,  but  he  did  not  dare  to 
quarrel  openly  with  his  brother-in-law,  and,  besides,  thanks  to 
the  complaisance  of  the  Dauphin,  who  was  much  attached  both 
to  his  half-sister  and  to  Conti,  and  gave  the  lovers  many 
opportunities  of  meeting  at  his  country-house  at  Meudon,  "  the 
affair  was  conducted  with  such  admirable  discretion  that  they 
never  gave  any  one  any  hold  over  them."  * 

It  has  sometimes  been  asserted  that  the  prince's  infatuation 
for  Madame  la  Duchesse  lost  him  the  throne  of  Poland,  to  which, 
through  the  skilful  intrigues  of  the  Abbe  de  Polignac,  the 
French  envoy  at  Warsaw,  he  had  been  elected,  by  a  majority 
in  the  Diet,  on  the  death  of  John  Sobieski,  in  1697.  But, 
although  it  is  true  that  he  was  exceedingly  loth  to  leave 
France  and  his  mistress,  and  employed  every  possible  pretext 
to  delay  his  departure  for  Poland,  it  is  very  doubtful  whether, 
without  far  stronger  support  than  Louis  XIV.  was  prepared  to 
give  him,  an  earlier  arrival  upon  the  scene  would  have  enabled 
him  to  triumph  over  so  formidable  a  competitor  as  Augustus  of 
Saxony. 

At  the  beginning  of  1709,  Louis  XIV.'s  dislike  of  Conti 
at  length  yielded  to  the  danger  of  the  country,  and  the  prince 
was  informed  that  he  had  been  selected  to  command  the 
Army  of  the  North  in  the  approaching  campaign.  This  tardy 
recognition  of  his  undoubted  merits  came,  however,  too  late. 
For  some  time  past  he  had  been  in  very  bad  health,  and  on 
21  February  he  died,  at  the  early  age  of  forty-five. 

1  Saint-Simon. 


2;8       THE    LOVE-AFFAIRS  OF  THE   CONDES 

His  death,  which  was  regarded  as  a  public  calamity,  so  great 
had  been  his  popularity  and  so  high  the  opinion  formed  of  his 
military  talents,  was  a  terrible  blow  to  Madame  la  Duchesse. 
"  He  was  the  only  one  to  whom  she  had  been  faithful,"  writes 
Saint-Simon  ;  "  she  was  the  only  one  to  whom  he  had  not  been 
fickle ;  his  greatness  would  have  done  homage  to  her,  and  she 
would  have  shone  with  his  lustre."  "  She  had  need  of  all  the 
command  which  she  had  naturally  over  herself,"  observes 
Madame  de  Caylus,  "  to  conceal  her  grief  from  Monsieur  le  Due. 
She  succeeded,  the  more  easily,  I  believe,  because  he  was  so 
relieved  at  no  longer  having  such  a  rival  that  he  cared  neither 
to  investigate  the  past  nor  the  depths  of  the  heart." 

The  untimely  death  of  the  Prince  de  Conti  was  followed,  at 
an  interval  of  a  few  weeks,  by  that  of  Monsieur  le  Prince,  who 
had  long  been  in  failing  health. 

During  the  latter  years  of  his  life  the  eccentricity  for  which 
he  had  always  been  noted  had  become  more  and  more  pro- 
nounced, until  at  last,  if  Saint-Simon  is  to  be  believed,  it  was 
hardly  distinguishable  from  madness.  Calling  one  morning 
on  the  Marechale  de  Noailles,  at  the  moment  when  her  bed 
was  being  made,  and  there  only  remained  the  counterpane  to  be 
put  on,  he  paused  for  a  moment  at  the  door,  and  then,  crying 
out  in  a  transport  of  delight :  "  Oh  !  le  beau  lit,  le  beau  lit,  quHl 
est  appttisant  /  "  he  took  a  flying  leap  on  to  the  bed  and  rolled 
over  several  times.  Then  he  got  down  and  made  his  excuses 
to  the  astonished  old  lady,  saying  that  her  bed  looked  so  clean 
and  so  beautifully  made  that  he  had  been  unable  to  resist  the 
temptation  to  roll  in  it. 

It  was  whispered  that  there  were  times  when  he  imagined 
himself  a  dog  or  some  other  animal,  and  Saint-Simon  declares 
that  "  people  very  worthy  of  belief  had  assured  him  that  they 
had  seen  the  prince  at  the  King's  concJier  suddenly  throw  his 
head  into  the  air  several  times  running  and  open  his  mouth 
quite  wide,  like  a  dog  while  barking,  yet  without  making  a 
noise." 

He  also  began  attending  in  a  ridiculously  minute  manner  to 


ANECDOTES   OF   M.   LE  PRINCE  279 

his  diet,  and  insisted  that  everything  he  ate  should  first  be 
carefully  weighed.  In  the  course  of  his  last  illness,  which  was  a 
very  protracted  one,  he  suddenly  announced  that  he  was  dead, 
and  refused  all  nourishment,  on  the  ground  that  dead  men  did 
not  eat.  The  doctors  were  in  despair,  but,  at  length,  they 
decided  to  humour  him  in  his  delusion  that  he  had  ceased 
to  exist,  but  to  maintain  that  dead  men  did  occasionally 
eat.  They  offered  to  produce  examples  of  their  contention, 
and  several  men  unknown  to  their  illustrious  patient  were 
accordingly  brought  in,  who  pretended  to  be  dead,  but  ate 
nevertheless.  This  trick  succeeded,  and  for  the  remaining 
weeks  of  his  life  the  prince  consented  to  take  food,  but  only  in 
the  presence  of  the  doctors  and  his  fellow-corpses. 

As  Monsieur  le  Prince  grew  worse,  his  wife  summoned  up 
sufficient  courage  to  beg  him  to  think  of  his  conscience  and  to 
see  a  confessor.  He  angrily  refused,  and  persisted  in  his  refusal, 
notwithstanding  her  tears  and  supplications.  As  a  matter  of 
fact,  he  had  been  seeing  Pere  de  la  Tour  of  the  Oratory  for  some 
months  past,  though  in  the  strictest  secrecy.  He  had  at  first 
demanded  that  the  reverend  father  should  come  to  him  by  night, 
and  in  disguise.  Pere  de  la  Tour  replied  that  he  would  be  quite 
willing  to  visit  Monsieur  le  Prince  under  cover  of  darkness,  but 
that  the  respect  he  owed  to  the  cloth  would  not  permit  him  to 
masquerade  in  the  attire  of  a  layman.  After  some  hesitation, 
the  penitent  consented  to  waive  this  condition  ;  but  he  caused 
the  most  elaborate  precautions  to  be  taken  to  prevent  his  visitor 
being  recognized.  He  was  admitted,  at  dead  of  night,  by  a 
little  back  door,  where  a  confidential  servant  of  the  prince,  with 
a  lantern  in  one  hand  and  a  bunch  of  keys  in  the  other,  was 
waiting  to  receive  him,  and  conducted  to  the  sick-room  along 
dark  passages  and  through  many  doors,  which  were  unlocked 
and  locked  again  after  him  as  he  passed.  Having  at  length 
reached  his  destination,  he  confessed  Monsieur  le  Prince,  and 
was  then  conducted  out  of  the  house  by  the  same  way  and  in 
the  same  manner  as  he  had  entered  it.  Similar  precautions 
were  observed  on  each  of  his  subsequent  visits. 

Henri  Jules  de  Bourbon,  fifth  Prince  de    Conde,   died  on 


280       THE  LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   CONDF.S 

i  April,  1709,  at  the  age  of  sixty-six.  His  last  instructions  to 
his  son  were  to  carry  out  all  the  improvements  which  he  had 
projected  at  Chantilly,  and  to  take  care  that  none  of  the  honours 
due  to  his  rank  were  omitted  at  his  funeral. 

And  so  he  passed  away,  "  regretted  by  no  one,  neither  by 
servants  nor  friends,  neither  by  child  nor  wife.  Indeed,  Madame 
la  Princesse  was  so  ashamed  of  her  tears  that  she  made  excuses 
for  them."  1 

The  Due  de  Bourbon,  for  he  preferred  to  retain  his  old  title, 
instead  of  assuming  that  which  his  grandfather  had  rendered  so 
illustrious — an  example  which  was  followed  by  his  son,  and,  a 
century  later,  by  the  last  head  of  his  House — did  not  live  to 
carry  out  his  father's  projects  at  Chantilly,  since  he  survived  him 
less  than  a  year.  He  had  been  suffering  for  some  time  from 
continual  pains  in  the  head,  "which  tempered  the  joy  he  felt  at 
being  delivered  from  his  troublesome  father  and  brother-in- 
law."  2  His  mother,  much  alarmed,  had  besought  him  to  think 
of  his  soul,  and  this  he  had  promised  to  do,  as  soon  as  the 
Carnival  and  its  pleasures  were  over  and  the  fashionable  season 
for  penitence  had  arrived.  On  the  evening  of  Shrove  Monday 
(3  March,  17 10),  as  he  was  driving  home  over  the  Pont-Royal  from 
the  Hotel  de  Coislin,  he  was  seized  with  a  fit  and  carried  in  an 
unconscious  condition  to  the  Hotel  de  Conde.  Priests  and  doctors 
were  speedily  in  attendance,  but  he  never  recovered  consciousness, 
and  died  about  four  o'clock  in  the  morning. 

"  Madame  la  Dicchesse"  writes  Madame  de  Caylus,  "  appeared 
infinitely  afflicted  by  his  death,  and  I  believe  she  was  sincere." 
But  the  chronicler  is  careful  to  explain  that  this  affliction  was  not 
caused  by  any  love  for  the  departed  prince,  but  "  because,  since 
the  death  of  the  Prince  de  Conti,  her  mind  and  heart  were 
occupied  by  nothing  but  ambition,3  and  Monsieur  le  Due  possessed 
all  the  qualities  necessary  to  make  her  conceive  great  hopes  in 
that  direction." 

1  Saint-Simon.  2  Ibid. 

3  But,  if  we  are  to  believe  Saint-Simon,  her  heart  was  partially  occupied  by  the 
Comte  de  Leon,  a  son  of  the  amorous  Lassay  by  his  first  marriage,  who,  "although 
he  had  the  face  of  a  monkey,  was  perfectly  well-made." 


CHAPTER    XX 

Louis  Henri  de  Bourbon-Conde' — He  assumes  the  title  of  Due  de  Bourbon, 
instead  of  that  of  Prince  de  Conde,  and  is  known  as  Monsieur  le  Due — His 
personal  appearance — He  loses  an  eye  by  a  shooting-accident — His  military 
career — He  becomes  President  of  the  Council  of  Regency  on  the  death  of 
Louis  XIV. — His  protection  of  John  Law — His  wealth — His  character — His 
marriage  with  Marie  Anne  de  Bourbon-Conti — Singular  intrigue  which 
precedes  it — His  indifference  to  his  wife — His  amours — The  financier 
Berthelot  de  Pldneuf — Gallantries  of  Madame  de  Plcneuf — Saint-Simon's 
portrait  of  her — Her  daughter,  Agnes  de  Pldneuf — Singular  beauty  and 
intelligence  of  this  young  girl — Violent  jealousy  which  her  mother  conceives 
for  her — Marriage  of  Agnes  to  the  Marquis  de  Prie,  who  is  soon  afterwards 
appointed  Ambassador  at  Turin — Her  life  at  Turin — Disgrace  and  bankruptcy 
of  Berthelot  de  Pleneuf — Financial  straits  of  the  de  Pries — Madame  de  Prie 
comes  to  Paris  to  intercede  with  the  Government  on  her  husband's  behalf — 
Calumnies  concerning  her  spread  by  her  mother  and  her  partisans — Her 
elations  with  the  Regent. 

BY  his  marriage  with  Mile,  de  Nantes,  Louis  III.,  Due  de 
Bourbon,  had  had  nine  children — three  sons  and  six 
daughters— all  of  whom  survived  him. x  The  eldest 
son,  Louis  Henri,  hitherto  known  as  the  Due  d'Enghien,  was, 
at  the  time  of  his  father's  death,  in  his  eighteenth  year.  Like 
the  latter,  he  preferred  the  title  of  Due  de  Bourbon  to  that 
of  Prince  de  Conde,  and,  like  him,  was  henceforth  styled 
Monsieur  le  Due.     In  contrast  to  his  father,  who  had  been  very 

1  Here  is  the  list : 

1.  Marie  Gabriellc  Eleonorc  (1690-1760),  Abbess  of  Saint-Antoine-lez-Paria. 

2.  Louis  Henri,  Due  de  Bourbon,  Prince  de  Conde  (1692-1740). 

3.  Louise  Elisabeth,  Mile,  de  Bourbon  (1693-1775). 

4.  Louise  Anne,  Mile,  de  Charolais  (1697-1741). 

5.  Marie  Anne,  Mile,  de  Clermont  (1697-1741). 

6.  Charles,  Comtc  de  Charolais  (1700- 1760). 

7.  Ilenriette  Louise  Marie  Francoise  Gabrielle,  Mile,  de  Vermandois  (born 
in  1703). 

8.  Elisabeth  Alexandre,  Mile,  de  Sens  (1705-1765). 

9.  Louis,  Comte  de  Clermont  (1709-1771). 

281 


282       THE  LOVE-AFFAIRS  OF  THE   COND&S 

short  and  rather  thick-set,  Louis  Henri  de  Bourbon-Conde  was  tall 
and  thin,  with  a  long  face  and  prominent  cheek-bones.  At  this 
period,  however,  he  was  not  considered  an  ill-looking  young 
man,  but  two  years  later  [he  had  the  misfortune  to  meet  with  an 
accident  which  disfigured  him. 

In  the  winter  of  171 2 — that  fatal  winter  which  witnessed  the 
successive  deaths  of  the  charming  Duchesse  de  Bourgogne, 
her  husband,  and  their  eldest  son,  the  little  Due  de  Bretagne — 
he  took  part  in  a  battue  at  Marly  with  the  Dauphin  and  that 
prince's  younger  brother,  the  Due  de  Berry.  Monsieur  le  Due 
and  the  Due  de  Berry  were  standing  facing  one  another,  on 
opposite  sides  of  a  frozen  pool.  The  latter  fired  at  a  bird,  which 
was  flying  very  low,  and  missed  it ;  and  part  of  the  charge, 
rebounding  from  the  ice,  struck  Monsieur  le  Due  in  the  left  eye, 
the  sight  of  which  was  destroyed. 

The  young  prince  succeeded  to  his  father's  post  of  Grand 
Master  of  the  King's  Household,  to  his  government  of 
Burgundy,  and  to  the  command  of  the  cavalry  and  infantry 
regiments  of  Conde.  In  171 1  he  took  part  in  the  Flemish  cam- 
paign under  Villars,  and  in  the  assault  on  Hordain  showed  that 
he  had  inherited  the  courage  of  his  race.  In  the  following  year, 
he  was  in  nominal  command  of  the  cavalry  of  the  Army  of 
Flanders,  and  assisted  at  the  sieges  of  Douai,  Le  Quesnoy,  and 
Bouchain  ;  while  in  171 3  he  followed  Villars  to  the  Rhine,  was 
present  at  the  sieges  of  Landau  and  Freiburg,  and  was  made 
marshal  de  camp. 

In  his  will,  Louis  XIV.  had  named  the  Due  de  Bourbon  a 
member  of  the  Council  of  Regency,  as  soon  as  he  should  reach 
the  age  of  twenty-four  ;  but  on  the  death  of  le  Grand  Monargue, 
his  wishes  were  immediately  set  aside,  and  the  Regent,  the 
Due  d'Orleans,  proceeded  to  appoint  the  Council  himself,  with 
Monsieur  le  Due  as  its  president.  Apart,  however,  from  the 
share  he  took  in  the  campaign  against  the  legitimated  sons  of 
the  late  King,  the  Due  du  Maine  and  the  Comte  de  Toulouse, 
with  the  object  of  reducing  them  to  the  rank  of  simple  peers  of 
the  realm,  the  prince  appears  to  have  occupied  himself  very 
little  with  politics  during  the  first  years  of  the  Regency,  and 


CHARACTER  OF  M.    LE   DUC  283 

confined  his  activities  to  the  financial  speculations  in  which  half 
Paris  was  then  engaging.  With  so  much  ardour,  indeed,  did  he 
espouse  the  cause  of  the  Scotch  adventurer  Law  that  he  was 
accused  of  being  one  of  the  authors  of  the  "System"  which 
involved  the  country  in  such  disaster.  Any  way,  he  had  the 
courage  to  defend  the  fallen  idol  to  the  very  last,  and  when  Law, 
his  life  being  no  longer  safe  in  Paris,  made  his  escape  to  Flanders, 
it  was  one  of  the  Due  de  Bourbon's  carriages  which  conveyed  him 
to  the  frontier. 

Very  wealthy  before  the  "  System,"  his  great  fortune  was 
materially  increased  by  successful  speculation.  In  1720  it  was 
computed  at  not  less  than  sixty  million  livres. 

The  character  of  the  prince  is  very  diversely  estimated  by 
his  contemporaries.  Some  writers,  such  as  Marais,  Barbier, 
and  Duclos,  judge  him  severely,  and  describe  him  as  hasty  in 
temper,  brusque  in  his  manners,  debauched,  dishonourable, 
rapacious,  and  entirely  destitute  of  political  capacity.  Others, 
like  Saint-Simon  and  the  Dowager-Duchess  d'Orleans,  recognize 
in  him  a  certain  merit.  The  former  acknowledges  that,  with 
all  his  faults,  he  had  "  an  indomitable  obstinancy,  an  inflexible 
firmness;"  while  the  mother  of  the  Regent,  whose  opinions  at 
least  possess  the  advantage  of  being  consistently  sincere,  writes 
of  him  in  1719  : 

"Monsieur  le  Due  has  many  good  qualities  and  many  friends. 
He  is  polished  and  knows  how  to  behave  well,  but  his  attain- 
ments are  not  very  extensive.  Nor  is  he  better  informed,  but 
there  is  a  loftiness  and  a  nobility  in  his  character,  and  he  knows 
how  to  uphold  his  rank." 

Louis  Henri  de  Bourbon-Conde,  in  fact,  was  neither  the 
odious  nor  the  incapable  person  whom  certain  historians  have 
depicted.  His  courage  was  indisputable ;  if  he  was  rapacious, 
he  was  also  generous  and  open-handed  ;  if  he  was  a  bad  enemy, 
he  was  also  a  faithful  friend  ;  he  possessed  cultured  tastes,  and 
beneath  his  love  of  pleasure  and  his  apparent  indifference  to 
public  affairs  he  concealed  qualities  which  only  required  to  be 
stimulated  into  activity  to  make  of  him,  if  not  a  statesman,  at 
least  a  formidable  party-leader. 


284       THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS  OF   THE   COND&S 

In  the  summer  of  17 13,  Monsieur  le  Due  was  married  to  his 
cousin,  Marie  Anne  de  Bourbon-Conti,  at  the  same  time  as  his 
second  sister,  Mile,  de  Bourbon,  became  the  wife  of  the  young 
Prince  de  Conti.  This  double  marriage,  which  was  regarded 
with  more  or  less  repugnance  by  all  four  of  the  parties  concerned, 
affords  a  curious  illustration  of  the  despotism  exercised  by 
Louis  XIV.  over  the  members  of  the  Royal  House. 

The  death  of  Monsieur  le  Prince,  in  1709,  had  been  followed 
by  a  most  acrimonious  lawsuit  over  his  will  between  the  Condes 
and  Contis,  which,  suspended  for  a  while  by  the  sudden  demise 
of  his  successor,  had  been  resumed  with  redoubled  bitterness 
as  soon  as  decency  permitted.  Nothing  was  further  from  the 
thoughts  of  the  Contis  than  an  alliance  with  their  detested 
cousins,  and,  in  point  of  fact,  secret  negotiations  had  been  for 
some  time  in  progress  between  them  and  the  Orleans  family  for 
the  marriage  of  the  Prince  de  Conti  to  Mile,  de  Chartres,  second 
daughter  of  the  future  Regent. 

Now,  Madame  la  Princesse,  a  pious  and  gentle  soul,  had  been 
terribly  distressed  by  this  family  quarrel,  and  had  made  several 
futile  efforts  to  induce  the  litigants  to  come  to  an  arrangement. 
By  some  means,  she  got  wind  of  the  matrimonial  negotiations 
just  mentioned,  which  opened  her  eyes  to  a  very  natural  means 
of  accommodation  which  had  not  yet  occurred  to  her,  namely,  a 
double  marriage  between  her  grandchildren.  Aware  that  she 
herself  would  never  be  able  to  bring  this  about,  she  determined  to 
appeal  to  Louis  XIV.,  who  had  also  endeavoured  to  reconcilethe 
parties,  and  had  been  more  than  once  on  the  point  of  employing 
his  authority  to  put  a  stop  to  proceedings  so  prejudicial  to  the 
dignity  of  the  Royal  House,  and  who,  she  knew,  would  be  the 
more  ready  to  listen  to  her,  since  he  could  hardly  fail  to  be 
extremely  irritated  to  learn,  from  an  outside  source,  of  the 
projected  marriage  of  the  Prince  de  Conti  and  a  daughter  of 
the  Due  d'Orleans. 

She  had  not  miscalculated.  The  King  at  once  expressed 
his  warm  approval  of  her  proposal,  and  lost  no  time  in  sending 
for  Madame  la  Duchesse,  whom  he  informed  of  his  wishes.  That 
lady  began  to  remonstrate  vigorously,  but  his  Majesty  "spoke 


A  MARRIAGE   OF   COMPULSION  285 

to  her,  not  as  a  father,  but  as  a  master  who  intends  to  be  obeyed 
without  hesitation,"  and  she  reluctantly  yielded.  Next  came  the 
turn  of  the  Princesse  de  Conti,  who  offered  the  same  stubborn 
resistance,  and  only  capitulated  when  the  King,  losing  all 
patience,  informed  her  that,  if  she  refused  to  give  her  consent, 
he  would  cause  the  double  marriage  to  be  celebrated  without  it. 
As  for  the  parties  most  nearly  concerned,  his  Majesty  did  not 
even  trouble  to  go  through  the  form  of  consulting  them,  and  on 
9  July  the  marriages  were  celebrated,  in  the  chapel  at  Versailles, 
by  the  Cardinal  de  Rohan. 

The  new  Duchesse  de  Bourbon,  who  was  nearly  five  years 
older  than  her  husband,  was  an  extremely  pretty  young  woman, 
and  "  possessed  of  much  intelligence,  amiability,  and  charm  of 
manner."  1  Neither  the  attractions  of  her  mind  nor  of  her  person, 
however,  appear  to  have  made  any  impression  upon  Monsieur  le 
Due,  for  which  he  was  not  perhaps  wholly  to  blame,  having 
regard  to  the  peculiar  circumstances  in  which  the  marriage  had 
taken  place,  besides  which  it  would  seem  that  his  wife  made  very 
little  attempt  to  understand  him.  Any  way,  he  never  enter- 
tained for  her  the  smallest  affection,  and  the  tie  which  bound 
them  was  never  more  than  a  nominal  one. 

Such  being  the  relations  between  Monsieur  le  Due  and  his 
consort,  it  was  but  natural  that  the  former  should  have  become 
the  quarry  of  all  the  dames  galantes  of  the  time.  Madame  de 
Sabran,  one  time  mistress  of  the  Regent,  Madame  de  Zurlauben, 
Madame  de  Polignac,  Madame  de  Nesle,  mother  of  the  too- 
celebrated  sisters  who  were  to  succeed  one  another  in  the 
affections  of  Louis  XV.,  and  other  facile  beauties  seem  to  have 
dipped  their  pretty  fingers  freely  into  his  coffers ;  but  none  of 
these  liaisons  was  of  long  duration,  and  it  was  not  until  the 
prince  was  approaching  his  thirtieth  year  that  he  found  a  woman 
capable  of  fixing  his  affections. 

In  the  closing  years  of  the  reign  of  Louis  XIV.  there  lived  in 
a  magnificent  hotel  at  the  corner  of  the  Rues  de  Clcry  and 
Poissoniere  a  family  of  the  name  of  Berthelot  de  Pleneuf.     The 

1  Saint-Simon. 


286       THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   COND&S 

father  of  the  family,  fitienne  Berthelot  de  Pleneuf,  was  a  wealthy 
Government  official  and  army-contractor,  a  younger  son  of 
Frangois  Berthelot,  a  person  of  comparatively  humble  origin, 
who  had  amassed  an  enormous  fortune,  partly  by  judicious 
land-speculation  in  Canada,  where  he  owned  "estates  of  the 
value  of  a  province,"  which  the  King  had  transformed  for  him 
into  the  county  of  Saint-Laurent,  and  partly  as  a  revenue- 
farmer  and  commissary.  Old  Berthelot  had  employed  a  con- 
siderable portion  of  his  wealth  in  the  purchase  of  lucrative 
Government  posts  and  estates  in  France,  which  he  distributed 
among  his  sons,  to  Etienne's  share  falling  the  office  of  Director- 
General  of  the  Powders  and  Saltpetres  of  France  and  the 
seigneurie  of  Pleneuf,  which  entitled  him  to  style  himself  the 
seigneur  de  Pleneuf. 

In  1696,  Pleneuf,  who  was  then  about  thirty-five,  had 
married,  en  secondes  noces,  a  Mile.  Agnes  Riault  d'Ouilly,  a 
daughter  of  a  rich  bourgeois  family,  which,  like  his  own,  had 
been  recently  ennobled.  The  second  Madame  de  Pleneuf,  who, 
it  may  be  mentioned,  was  nearly  twenty  years  her  husband's 
junior,  had  been  one  of  the  prettiest  girls  in  Paris,  and  in  due 
course  she  became  one  of  its  most  beautiful  aud  fascinating 
women.  "  Tall,  perfectly  shaped,  with  an  extremely  agreeable 
countenance,  intelligence,  grace,  tact,  and  savoir-vivre"  1  she 
triumphed  like  a  queen,  and  as  Pleneuf,  proud  of  her  success, 
denied  her  nothing,  the  salons  in  the  Rue  de  Clery  soon  became 
the  rendezvous  of  all  fashionable  Paris. 

If  in  beauty  and  intelligence  Madame  de  Pleneuf  left  little  to 
be  desired,  the  same,  unfortunately,  could  not  be  said  for  her 
reputation.  The  prolonged  absences  of  her  husband  with  the 
army  provided  her  with  abundant  opportunities  for  receiving  the 
homage  of  her  numerous  admirers,  and  she  took  advantage  of 
them  so  freely  that  she  earned  for  herself  the  name  of  the 
Messalina  of  her  time.  To  no  lady  in  Paris  did  gossip  ascribe 
so  many  lovers,  and,  in  most  cases,  it  is  to  be  feared,  with  only 
too  much  justification.  There  was  a  Lorraine  prince,  the  Prince 
Charles  d'Armagnac ;   the  Cardinal  de  Rohan  ;    the  Dues  de 

1  Saint-Simon. 


MME.  DE  PL&NEUF  AND  HER  LOVERS  287 

Duras  and  de  la  Valliere  ;  the  versatile  Marquis  de  Dangeau, 
author  of  the  famous  "  Journal " ;  Canon  Destouches,  father  of 
Nericault-Destouches,  the  diplomatist  and  playwright ;  young 
La  Baume,  son  of  the  Marechal  de  Tallard ;  the  Marquis  de 
Cany,  son  of  the  War  Minister  Chamillard  ;  the  dashing  Comte 
de  Gace,  who,  in  February,  1716,  fought  the  famous  midnight 
duel  with  the  Due  de  Richelieu  in  the  middle  of  the  Rue  Saint- 
Thomas-du  Louvre.  And  the  list  might  be  considerably  extended . 

But  if  Madame  de  Pleneuf  were  an  immoral,  she  was  also  a 
very  clever  woman,  and  displayed  really  remarkable  address  in 
managing  her  crowd  of  sonpirants  and  avoiding  anything  ap- 
proaching a  scandal.  "  Enamoured  of  herself  to  the  last  degree," 
writes  Saint-Simon,  "  she  desired  that  others  should  be  so,  but  it 
was  necessary  to  obtain  permission.  She  knew  how  to  pick  and 
choose  among  her  admirers,  and  so  well  did  she  understand  how 
to  establish  her  empire  that  complete  happiness  never  exceeded, 
in  appearance,  the  bounds  of  respect  and  propriety  ;  and  there 
was  not  one  of  the  chosen  band  who  dared  to  show  either  jealousy 
or  mortification.  Each  one  hoped  for  his  turn,  and,  while 
waiting,  the  choice  more  than  suspected  was  respected  by  all  in 
perfect  silence,  without  the  least  altercation  amongst  them.  It 
is  astonishing  how  this  conduct  gained  her  friends  of  im- 
portance, who  always  remained  attached  to  her,  without  there 
being  any  question  of  anything  more  than  friendship,  and  whom 
she  found,  in  case  of  need,  the  most  eager  to  serve  her  in  her 
affairs.  She  was  at  this  time  in  the  best  and  the  most 
aristocratic  society,  as  much  as  the  wife  of  Pleneuf  was  able  to 
be  ;  and  there  she  has  remained  since,  among  all  the  vicissitudes 
which  she  has  experienced." 

Saint-Simon  does  not  exaggerate.  Madame  de  Pleneuf 
never  encountered  among  her  admirers  any  resistance  to  the 
regulations  which  she  imposed  upon  them.  All  submitted  to 
them  with  a  good  grace ;  all  passed  without  protest  from  the 
rank  of  candidates  for  her  favour  to  that  of  lover,  and  from 
that  of  lover  to  that  of  friend,  and  of  friends,  in  some  instances, 
ready  to  make  considerable  sacrifices  for  her  sake. 

Among  several  children,  Madame  de  Pleneuf  had  a  daughter, 


288       THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   CONDfeS 

born  in  1698,  some  two  years  after  the  marriage  of  her  parents, 
to  whom  she  had  given  her  own  name  of  Agnes.  Beautiful  as 
was  the  mother,  the  daughter  promised  to  be  more  beautiful 
still,  and  with  her  physical  perfections  she  combined  vivacity, 
intelligence,  and  the  most  charming  manners.  "A  figure 
supple  and  above  the  middle  height,  the  air  of  a  nymph,  a 
delicate  face,  pretty  cheeks,  a  well-formed  nose,  blonde  hair, 
eyes  a  trifle  small,  but  bright  and  expressive  ;  in  a  word,  a 
physiognomy  refined  and  distinguished,  and  a  voice  as  charming 
as  her  face."  Such  is  the  description  given  of  her,  when  she 
was  fifteen,  by  the  President  Henault,  and  his  praises  are  echoed 
by  practically  all  contemporary  writers.  Saint-Simon  declares 
that  she  was  "  beautiful,  well-made,  more  charming  by  reason  of 
those  indescribable  things  which  captivate,  and  with  much  intelli- 
gence carefully  cultivated  "  ;  Marais  admits  that  there  was  "  much 
that  was  agreeable  in  her  countenance,  in  her  mind,  and  in 
all  her  manners"  ;  d'Argenson  proclaims  her  "lafleur  des pois  "  ; 
while  in  the  eyes  of  Duclos,  she  "  possessed  more  than  beauty,'' 
and  "  everything  about  her  was  seductive." 

Now,  while  Agnes  remained  a  child,  Madame  de  Pleneuf 
would  appear  to  have  been  quite  a  devoted  mother,  and  "  it  was 
the  passion  and  occupation  of  her  life  to  bring  her  up  well." 
But,  as  the  little  girl  advanced  towards  womanhood,  and  gained 
every  day  what  she  herself  was  losing  in  attractions,  with  the 
result  that  the  homage  of  some  of  the  gallants  who  frequented 
the  Hotel  de  Pleneuf  began  to  be  transferred  from  the  mother 
to  the  daughter,  the  affection  which  she  had  once  entertained 
for  her  gradually  changed  to  dislike,  and  eventually  to  the 
bitterest  jealousy  and  hatred.  "  In  proportion  as  the  daughter 
pleased  by  a  hundred  attractions,"  writes  Saint-Simon,  "she 
displeased  her  mother.  Madame  de  Pleneuf  could  not  endure 
the  sight  of  homage  addressed  to  others  than  herself  at  her  own 
house.  The  advantages  of  youth  irritated  her.  Her  daughter, 
whom  she  was  unable  to  prevent  from  perceiving  it,  suffered 
her  dependence,  endured  her  murmurs,  supported  the  constraints 
imposed  upon  her,  but  she  began  to  be  annoyed  by  them. 
Pleasantries    concerning   the  jealousy   of   her  mother   escaped 


MOTHER  AND   DAUGHTER  289 

her,  which  were  reported  to  Madame  de  Pleneuf.  The  latter 
felt  the  ridicule  of  them.  She  flew  into  a  passion.  The  girl 
retorted,  and  Pleneuf,  more  prudent  than  she  was,  dreading  a 
scandal  which  might  prejudice  the  establishment  of  his  daughter 
in  life,  decided  to  provide  her  with  a  husband." 

It  was  certainly  high  time  to  separate  mother  and  daughter, 
for  the  enmity  between  them  was  increasing  every  day,  and 
at  the  beginning  of  17 13  an  incident  occurred  which  brought 
matters  to  a  crisis  and  made  it  impossible  for  them  to  remain 
any  longer  under  the  same  roof. 

Among  the  admirers  of  Madame  de  Pleneuf  was  a  certain 
Comte  d'Angennes.  Young,  handsome,  and  of  charming 
manners,  he  had  not  been  permitted  to  sigh  in  vain ;  indeed, 
the  lady  appears  to  have  conceived  for  him  a  most  violent 
passion.  In  a  surprisingly  short  time,  however,  she  perceived 
that  the  ardour  of  her  new  lover  was  beginning  to  cool,  for, 
though  frequenting  the  house  as  assiduously  as  ever,  he  no 
longer  sought  opportunities  of  being  alone  with  his  hostess. 
Madame  de  Pleneuf,  her  suspicions  aroused,  watched  him 
closely,  and  more  than  once  detected  him  talking  in  low  tones 
to  Agnes,  with  an  expression  on  his  face  which  there  was  no 
mistaking. 

Thenceforth  the  jealous  woman's  hatred  of  her  too  attractive 
daughter  knew  no  bounds.  No  longer  did  she  trouble  to  dis- 
simulate her  feelings  from  her  friends,  but  actually  incited  the 
most  devoted  of  them  to  imitate  the  attitude  she  adopted 
towards  the  girl,  with  the  result  that  poor  Agnes's  life  became 
almost  unendurable. 

Unendurable,  too,  was  the  sight  of  her  to  her  unnatural 
mother,  and  she  importuned  her  husband  until  he  consented 
that  the  girl  should  leave  the  house  and  be  placed  in  a  convent, 
while  awaiting  the  appearance  on  the  scene  of  an  eligible 
suitor.  Several  gentlemen  who  answered  more  or  less  to  this 
description  speedily  presented  themselves,  and,  after  some 
hesitation,  M.  de  Pleneuf  decided  in  favour  of  the  Marquis  de 
Prie. 

The  marquis  was  twenty-five  years  older  than  Agnes  and, 
u 


290       THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   COND&S 

though  he  was  the  possessor  of  large  estates,  they  were  either 
so  unproductive  or  so  heavily  mortgaged  that  they  brought 
him  in  next  to  nothing.  But  he  was  a  member  of  a  very 
ancient  House,  connected  with  several  of  the  most  illustrious 
families  in  France,  was  governor  of  Bourbon-Lancy,  colonel 
of  the  cavalry  regiment  which  bore  his  name,  held  the  rank 
of  brigadier-general  in  the  Army,  and,  finally,  was  one  of  the 
godfathers  of  the  heir  to  the  throne. 

This  last  honour,  which  he  owed  to  his  good  fortune  in 
happening  to  be  with  his  aunt  the  Duchesse  de  Ventadour, 
gouvemante  to  the  Due  d'Anjou,  in  Louis  XIV.'s  cabinet,  at 
the  moment  when  the  infant  prince  was  brought  thither  for 
his  Majesty's  inspection,  seems  to  have  had  great  weight  with 
M.  de  Pleneuf,  who  was  intoxicated  with  the  idea  of  an  alliance 
with  the  godfather  of  his  future  King.  As  for  the  marquis, 
it  is  probable  that  M.  de  Pleneufs  money-bags  constituted 
a  far  more  potent  attraction  for  him  than  the  beaux  yeux  of 
his  lovely  daughter.  He  was  not  only  poor,  but  ambitious,  and, 
now  that  the  approach  of  peace  threatened  to  put  an  end  to 
his  hopes  of  military  distinction,  he  had  decided  to  embark 
upon  a  diplomatic  career,  and  aspired  to  an  embassy,  for  which, 
of  course,  the  possession  of  a  long  purse  was  an  indispensable 
qualification. 

The  preliminaries  were  soon  concluded,  and  on  27  December, 
17 1 3,  Agnes  Berthelot  de  Pleneuf  became  the  Marquise  de  Prie. 
Taken  to  Versailles  by  the  Duchesse  de  Ventadour,  to  be 
presented  to  Louis  XIV.,  she  astonished  all  the  Court  by  her 
dazzling  beauty  and  her  precocious  airs  of  a  woman  of  the 
world  ;  and  even  those  who  had  been  inclined  to  condemn  M.  de 
Prie  for  having  contracted  a  mesalliance  were  obliged  to  admit 
that  he  had  married  a  wife  of  whom  any  man  might  be  proud. 
Almost  immediately  afterj  his  marriage,  the  marquis  was  nomi- 
nated Ambassador  to  the  King  of  Sardinia,  and  set  out  for 
Turin,  whither,  after  a  short  interval,  his  wife  followed  him. 

At  Turin  Madame  de  Prie  remained  five  years.  For  the 
first  two  or  three,  during  which  a  little  daughter  was  born  to 
her,  everything  went   smoothly.     Her   husband  was  kind  and 


RUIN  AND   DISGRACE   OF   PLENEUF         291 

attentive,  and,  if  she  felt  for  him  no  affection  and  some  con- 
tempt— for  he  was  a  pompous  and  self-opinionated  person,  with 
abilities  as  slender  as  his  ambitions  were  lofty — she,  at  least, 
tolerated  him  ;  while,  as  the  Ambassadress  of  the  greatest  King 
in  the  world,  and  one  of  the  most  beautiful  women  in  the 
Piedmontese  capital,  she  was  the  object  of  universal  homage, 
and  no  social  gathering  was  deemed  complete  which  she  did 
not  grace  with  her  presence.  But  towards  the  end  of  17 16  an 
event  occurred  which  was  to  effect  a  great  change  in  the  fortunes 
of  the  Pries. 

For  some  time  past  a  very  ugly  cloud  had  been  slowly 
gathering  over  the  head  of  M.  de  Pleneuf.  At  this  period, 
and,  indeed,  until  a  very  much  later  date,  most  gentlemen  con- 
nected with  the  commissariat  department  of  the  Army  were  but 
indifferently  honest ;  but  long  impunity  had  rendered  Pleneuf 
unusually  audacious,  and  so  outrageously  did  he  rob  the  Army 
of  Italy,  of  which  he  had  acted  as  chief  commissary,  that  in 
1706  Louis  XIV.  ordered  an  inquiry  to  be  instituted. 

Matters  would  probably  have  gone  hardly  with  Pleneuf,  if 
he  had  not  had  the  good  fortune  to  possess  powerful  protectors. 
Thanks  to  their  efforts,  not  only  were  the  charges  against  him 
not  pressed,  but,  a  little  while  afterwards,  he  was  actually 
appointed  chief  clerk  at  the  War  Office. 

Nevertheless,  his  peculations,  and  those  of  his  colleagues, 
were  not  forgotten,  and  in  1714  the  Government  decided  upon 
a  new  revision  of  the  accounts  of  the  Army  of  Italy.  This 
investigation,  temporarily  interrupted  by  the  last  illness  and 
death  of  Louis  XIV.,  was  resumed  some  months  later,  when 
Philippe  d'Orlcans,  eager  to  court  popularity,  determined  to 
make  the  revenue-farmers  and  commissaries  disgorge  their  ill- 
gotten  gains  ;  and  Pleneuf  was  the  first  to  be  summoned  before 
the  Court  instituted  for  that  purpose.  This  time,  there  was  no 
one  to  intervene  in  his  favour,  and,  warned  that  his  arrest  was 
imminent,  he  fled  to  Switzerland,  and  thence  made  his  way  to 
his  daughter  at  Turin. 

In  saving  his  person,  however,  he  had  not  succeeded  in 
saving  his  property;  and  his  hotel  in  Paris  and  his  country-estates 


292       THE  LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE  COND&S 

were  sequestrated  until  such  time  as  he  should  make  restitu- 
tion of  the  immense  sums  of  which  he  had  defrauded  the  State. 

The  disgrace  and  bankruptcy  of  Pleneuf  was  a  terrible  blow 
to  the  de  Pries.  They  might  have  stomached  the  loss  of  the  old 
gentleman's  reputation,  for  the  offence  of  which  he  had  been 
guilty  was  of  such  common  occurrence  in  those  days  as  to  be 
regarded  with  a  very  lenient  eye,  and,  indeed,  he  appears  to 
have  received  quite  a  warm  welcome  at  the  Court  of  Turin  ; 
but  the  loss  of  his  money  was  another  matter  altogether. 

With  the  laudable  desire  of  upholding  the  honour  of  France, 
both  the  Ambassador  and  his  wife  had  incurred  heavy  expendi- 
ture during  their  residence  in  Italy  ;  de  Prie's  small  fortune  was 
entirely  exhausted,  and  very  little  was  left  of  Agnes's  dowry. 
It  was  to  the  purse  of  Pleneuf  that  they  had  been  looking  to 
replenish  their  empty  coffers,  and  here  he  was  quartered  upon 
them,  with  a  healthy  appetite  and  extravagant  tastes,  but  with- 
out a  crown  in  his  pocket.  In  short,  the  ambassadorial  manage 
found  itself  reduced  to  the  direst  extremities,  and  it  was  only 
by  pawning  his  plate  and  borrowing  money  at  usurious  interest 
that  the  unfortunate  representative  of  the  might  and  majesty  of 
France  was  able  to  continue  at  his  post. 

Towards  the  end  of  the  year  iy  18,  matters  had  reached  such 
a  pass  that  no  hope  of  escaping  from  his  difficulties  remained  to 
him  save  by  the  intervention  of  his  Government.  Again  and 
again  he  had  appealed  to  Torcy,  the  Minister  for  Foreign 
Affairs,  for  assistance  ;  but  the  answer  was  always  the  same  : 
the  Royal  Treasury  was  empty  ;  it  was  impossible  at  present 
even  to  pay  his  Excellency's  salary,  much  less  to  discharge  his 
debts. 

In  despair,  the  Ambassador  determined  to  send  his  wife  to 
Paris  to  plead  their  cause  with  the  Government,  and  at  the 
beginning  of  December  Madame  de  Prie  set  out  for  France. 

The  young  woman  who  returned  to  Paris  was  a  very  different 
person  from  the  girl  who  had  quitted  it  five  years  before.  Not 
only  had  she  gained  in  outward  attractions,  but  she  had  gained 
enormously  in  worldly  knowledge.  She  had  learned  the  ways 
of  Courts,  and  had  learned  them  at  one  where  falsehood  and 


MME.   DE   PRIE   RETURNS  TO  PARIS       293 

dissimulation  were  considered  the  first  essentials  of  every  good 
politician.  She  had  learned  some  of  the  subtleties  of  diplomacy, 
for  the  Marquis  de  Prie,  who  had  been  no  match  for  Victor 
Amadeus  and  his  Ministers,  had  been  only  too  thankful  to  avail 
himself  of  the  advice  and  assistance  of  his  clever  wife  and  father- 
in-law  ;  indeed,  for  some  months  past  it  was  they  who  had  con- 
ducted the  real  work  of  the  embassy.  She  had  learned  too  to 
understand  the  power  of  her  beauty,  for,  though  there  would 
appear  to  be  no  reason  to  believe  that  she  had  ever  surrendered 
to  love,  she  had  certainly  known  how  to  inspire  it,  and  a  prince 
of  the  Royal  House  of  Savoy — the  Prince  di  Carignano — the 
Baron  Ferron,  Prime  Minister  of  Victor  Amadeus,  the  Chevalier 
de  Lozilieres,  first  secretary  to  the  embassy,  and  the  Marquis 
d'Alincourt,  son  of  the  Marechal  de  Villeroy,  who  stayed  for 
some  time  in  Turin  on  his  return  from  a  campaign  against 
the  Turks,  had  been  all  devoted  admirers.  "  But,  above  all," 
observes  her  admiring  biographer,  M.  Thirion,  "she  had  learned 
how  to  toil,  to  suffer,  to  defend  herself  against  the  ills  of  life,  to 
struggle  and  to  combat,  in  order  to  satisfy  the  exigencies  of  an 
uncertain  hand-to-mouth  existence,  in  such  fashion  that,  beneath 
the  frail  envelope  of  this  adorable  young  body,  there  beat  an 
almost  virile  heart,  there  resided  a  soul  matured  before  its  time, 
disciplined  and  for  ever  superior  to  cowardly  weaknesses."  l 

And  it  was  a  very  different  Paris  to  which  she  returned. 
The  austere  and  bigoted  rigime  of  Louis  XIV.  and  Madame  de 
Maintenon,  where  even  the  most  profligate  and  reckless  had 
been  constrained  to  some  semblance  of  decorum,  was  no  more, 
and  the  pent-up  impatience  of  a  corrupt  society  was  finding 
relief  in  a  veritable  saturnalia  of  sensuality.  Vice,  which  for 
so  many  years  had  scarcely  dared  to  rear  its  head,  now  stalked 
abroad,  naked  and  unashamed  ;  virtue,  and  even  ordinary 
decency,  was  mocked  at  and  derided.  The  Regent  himself  set 
the  tone  in  moral  depravity,  and  his  example  was  followed  by 
the  Princes  and  Princesses  of  the  Blood,  by  the  bulk  of  the 
nobility  and  by  a  considerable  proportion  of  the  wealthy  middle- 
class. 

1  "Madame  de  Prie  (169S-1727),"  Paris,  1905. 


294       THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   COND&S 

"  The  disorderly  and  foolish  life  in  Paris,"  writes  the  old 
Duchesse  d'Orleans,  "  becomes  every  day  more  detestable  and 
more  horrible.   Every  time  it  thunders  I  tremble  for  this  town."  * 

To  send  a  beautiful  and  unprotected  young  woman  into  the 
midst  of  so  licentious  a  Court  was,  to  say  the  least  of  it,  a  very 
injudicious  action  on  de  Prie's  part,  and  some  contemporary 
writers  are  of  opinion  that  it  was  his  deliberate  intention  to 
launch  her  upon  some  gallant  adventure.  In  this,  as  we  shall 
presently  see,  they  have  probably  done  him  an  injustice  ;  but, 
however  that  may  be,  nothing  in  the  conduct  of  his  wife  during 
the  first  months  after  her  arrival  in  Paris  indicates  that  she  had 
the  least  idea  of  speculating  in  her  charms. 

Since  it  was,  of  course,  out  of  the  question  for  her  to 
demand  the  hospitality  of  her  detestable  mother,  she  installed 
herself  with  her  little  daughter  in  a  small  house  close  to  the 
Convent  of  La  Conception,  belonging  to  one  of  her  aunts, 
Madame  de  Sechelles,  to  whom  she  paid  an  annual  rent  of 
500  livres,  for  the  use  of  a  portion  of  it.  She  lived  very  quietly, 
for  she  was  almost  entirely  without  resources,  and  seldom  went 
into  Society,  though,  in  accordance  with  her  husband's  instruc- 
tions, she  solicited  audiences  of  the  Regent,  the  Abbe  Dubois, 
Torcy,  and,  indeed,  every  one  who  might  be  able  to  be  of 
assistance  to  the  impecunious  Ambassador. 

The  interviews  which  took  place  between  her  detested 
daughter  and  these  distinguished  persons  did  not  escape 
Madame  de  Pleneuf,  and,  thanks  to  the  malevolent  activity  of 
her  and  her  friends,  a  rumour  soon  began  to  spread  that  the 
young  Ambassadress,  whose  beauty  never  failed  to  cause  a 
sensation  wherever  she  appeared,  was  employing  her  charms  to 
mend  her  broken  fortunes.  She  was  accused  of  prostituting 
herself  to  the  Marechal  de  la  Feuillade,  to  d'Alincourt  and  to 
Torcy,  and  of  having  made  an  attempt  to  subjugate  the  heart  of 
the  Regent,  who,  it  was  added,  had  repulsed  her,  either  because 
she  had  not  pleased  him,  or  because  he  regarded  her  as  too 
dangerous  a  mistress. 

1  "  Correspondance  complete  de  Madame,  duchesse  d'Orleans,"  Letter  of 
27  Septcmbrc,  1720. 


MME.   DE   PRIE  AND  THE   REGENT  295 

There  seems  to  have  been  no  truth  whatever  in  these  allega- 
tions. La  Feuillade  was  in  very  bad  health ;  d'Alincourt  on 
the  eve  of  espousing  a  wealthy  heiress,  and  Torcy  approaching 
his  sixtieth  year.  As  for  the  Regent,  well,  the  post  of  chief 
sultana  to  his  Highness  was  not  just  then  vacant,  being  occupied 
by  Madame  de  Parabere  ;  and  Madame  de  Prie  was  certainly  not 
the  kind  of  woman  either  to  risk  the  humiliation  of  a  rebuff  or 
to  be  content  with  a  subordinate  position.  Moreover,  no  trust- 
worthy contemporary  chronicler  has  charged  the  lady  with  any 
such  ambition  as  gossip  ascribed  to  her. 

If,  however,  the  Regent  did  not  fall  in  love  with  Madame 
de  Prie,  she  seems  to  have  made  a  very  favourable  impression 
upon  him,  and  she  was  several  times  invited  to  assist  at  those 
too-celebrated  petits  soupers  at  which  the  ruler  of  France  was 
accustomed  to  seek  relaxation  from  the  cares  of  State.  However, 
such  orgies  were  but  little  to  her  taste,  and  when  she  had  at 
length  succeeded  in  obtaining  from  him  a  promise  that  her 
husband's  debts  at  Turin  should  be  settled,  or  that  he  should  be 
permitted  to  resign  his  post,  she  ceased  to  appear  at  the  Palais- 
Royal. 

Meanwhile,  the  favour  with  which  Madame  de  Prie  was 
regarded  in  high  places  had  begun  to  alarm  Madame  de  Pleneuf 
and  her  coterie.  Since  her  daughter's  return  to  Paris  that 
amiable  lady  had  not  ceased  to  aim  at  her  every  kind  of  shaft 
that  hatred  and  malice  could  forge  and  to  incite  her  docile 
admirers  to  do  the  same.  When,  however,  they  saw  her  a 
welcome  guest  at  the  Palais-Royal,  they  began  to  ask  themselves 
if  they  had  not  carried  their  hostility  a  little  too  far;  and,  though 
Madame  de  Pleneuf  herself  professed  to  be  implacable,  some  of 
her  friends  began  to  make  overtures  to  her  daughter,  with  a  view 
to  bringing  about  a  reconciliation.  Nothing,  however,  came  of 
these  negotiations,  for,  before  they  had  proceeded  very  far,  an 
event  occurred  which  was  to  fan  the  dying  embers  of  the  old  feud 
into  the  flame  of  a  new  and  interminable  war. 


CHAPTER  XXI 

Origin  of  the  liaison  between  Monsieur  leDuc  and  Madame  de  Prie  con- 
sidered— Extraordinary  ascendency  which  the  latter  acquires  over  her  lover 
— For  a  while,  the  favourite  leads  a  life  of  pleasure,  but  is  soon  obliged  to 
give  her  attention  to  politics — Exasperation  of  Madame  de  Pleneuf  s  coterie 
against  her — Insecurity  of  Monsieur  le  Due's  position — The  Orleans  faction 
— Intrigues  of  the  War  Minister  Le  Blanc  and  the  Belle-Isles — Hatred  of 
Madame  de  Prie  for  Le  Blanc — She  resolves  to  crush  the  common  enemies 
of  herself  and  Monsieur  le  Due — Her  skilful  conduct — Murder  of  Sandrier 
de  Mi  try,  chief  cashier  of  La  Jonchere,  treasurer  of  the  Emergency  War 
Fund — Sinister  suspicions  concerning  La  Jonchere  and  Le  Blanc — Madame 
de  Prie  determines  to  get  to  the  bottom  of  the  mystery — Her  alliance  with 
the  Paris  brothers  against  the  War  Minister — Dubois  persuades  the  Regent 
to  withdraw  his  protection  from  Le  Blanc — Arrest  of  La  Jonchere  and 
examination  of  his  accounts — Disgrace  and  exile  of  Le  Blanc — The  death 
of  Dubois  puts  a  stop  to  the  proceedings — Death  of  Philippe  d'Orleans — 
Monsieur  le  Due  becomes  Prime  Minister. 

ONE  night,  in  the  autumn  of  1719,  so  the  story  goes, the 
Due  de  Bourbon  attended  a  ball  at  the  Opera,  where 
his  attention  was  attracted  by  two  masked  ladies,  who 
remained  inseparable  throughout  the  evening.  One  of  them  in 
particular  piqued  his  curiosity,  as  much  as  by  her  liveliness  and 
wit,  as  by  the  perfection  of  her  shape  and  the  grace  of  her 
movements.  He  entreated  her  to  unmask,  but  was  met  by  a 
refusal,  and  she  and  her  companion  took  their  departure,  laughing 
merrily  at  his  mortification.  At  the  next  Opera-ball,  the  two 
ladies  appeared  in  the  same  costume.  Monsieur  le  Due,  who 
was  again  present,  hastened  to  join  them,  but,  though,  on  this 
occasion,  he  succeeded  in  ascertaining  that  the  elder  was  a 
Madame  Auxy,  he  was  unable  to  discover  the  identity  of  the 
one  who  most  interested  him,  for  nothing  could  persuade  her 
to  unmask.  On  leaving  him,  however,  she  hinted  that,  if  he 
cared  to  attend  the  next  ball,  he  might  find  her  less  obdurate. 

296 


MME.   DE  PRIE  MISTRESS   OF  M.   LE  DUC     297 

The  prince  was  faithful  to  the  rendezvous,  but  the  fair 
inconnae  seemed  disinclined  to  fulfil  her  promise  ;  and  it  was  only 
after  many  refusals  and  many  protestations  that  she  at  length 
consented  to  remove  her  mask,  and  to  reveal  the  adorable  features 
of  Madame  de  Prie,  at  sight  of  which  Monsieur  le  Due  in- 
continently succumbed. 

Such  is  the  version  of  the  affair  which  has  found  favour  with 
the  majority  of  historians.  It  is  doubtful,  however,  if  it  is  the 
correct  one,  and,  any  way,  it  is  strangely  inconsistent  with  the 
account  given  by  Caylus — no  friend,  by  the  way,  of  Madame  de 
Prie — of  the  repulsion  with  which  the  first  solicitations  of 
Monsieur  le  Due  inspired  the  object  of  his  desires  : 

"  However  ambitious  Madame  de  Prie  may  have  been,  when 
she  saw  herself  on  the  point  of  surrendering  to  a  man  whose  face 
was  extremely  repulsive,  although  he  was  rather  well-made,  she 
experienced  a  frightful  repugnance,  and  was  a  hundred  times 
ready  to  renounce  her  project." 

A  more  plausible  explanation  of  the  origin  of  this  passion, 
which,  owing  to  its  consequences,  belongs  to  history,  is  that 
Madame  de  Prie's  aunt,  Madame  de  Sechelles,  who  was  on 
friendly  terms  with  Marie  Anne  de  Bourbon-Conti,  the  first  wife 
of  Monsieur  le  Due,  and  a  frequent  visitor  at  the  Hotel  de  Conde, 
brought  her  niece  there  ;  that  Monsieur  le  Due  saw  her  and  fell 
desperately  in  love  with  her,  and  that  certain  partisans  of  the 
House  of  Conde,  who  were  anxious  to  find  some  intelligent 
woman  capable  of  guiding  the  prince  amidst  the  bewildering 
chaos  of  passions  and  intrigues  in  which  he  found  himself,  and  of 
awakening  in  him  those  ambitions  which  they  themselves  had 
vainly  endeavoured  to  arouse,  persuaded  her,  weary  as  she  was 
of  the  trials  and  humiliations  of  poverty  and  eager  once  again  to 
possess  the  good  things  of  life,  to  become  his  mistress. 

What,  however,  is  incontestable,  is  the  completeness  of  her 
triumph.  From  the  first  hour  until  the  time,  six  years  later,  when 
circumstances  over  which  neither  of  them  had  any  control  came 
to  force  them  apart,  she  dominated  Monsieur  le  Due  entirely,  and 
he  adored  her  with  an  intensity  of  devotion  of  which  no  one  had 
believed  him  capable.      The  Sabrans,  the  Nesles,  the  Polignacs 


298       THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   COND&S 

and  the  rest  were  as  entirely  forgotten  as  if  they  had  never 
existed  ;  never  was  there  so  much  as  a  whisper  of  a  rival  in  his 
affections.     He  consecrated  himself  to  her  body  and  soul. 

Nor  is  this  a  matter  for  surprise,  since  Madame  de  Prie  was 
no  ordinary  mistress.  Not  only  did  she  possess  in  a  superlative 
degree  all  that  could  charm  the  senses,  but  she  had  intelligence, 
culture,  and  exquisite  tact,  and,  she  understood  to  perfection 
the  art  of  pleasing.  "  She  amused  him,  she  distracted  him,  she 
showed  a  profound  respect  for  his  decisions,  which  flattered 
him  in  confirming  him  in  the  idea  that  he  acted  always  on  his 
own  initiative.  She  never  gave  him  advice  except  after  being 
asked  for  it,  and  in  subordinating  it,  in  appearance,  to  the 
superior  intelligence  of  her  lover,  although  it  was  frequently  her 
counsel  which  prevailed."  *  Thus,  she  insinuated  herself  into 
the  mind  and  heart  of  the  prince  and  "  disposed  of  him  as  a 
slave."  2  Never  did  he  dream  of  rebelling  against  his  fetters, 
since  he  was  barely  conscious  of  them. 

For  a  while,  Madame  de  Prie  gave  herself  up  to  the  enjoy- 
ment of  all  the  luxury  and  splendour  with  which  her  princely 
lover  hastened  to  surround  her  with  the  zest  which  only  a 
pretty  young  woman  can  feel  who,  after  once  being  in  a  position 
to  indulge  all  her  caprices,  has  for  several  years  been  com- 
pelled to  deny  herself  even  the  necessaries — or  what  the 
feminine  mind  considers  the  necessaries — of  existence.  She 
passed  long  delightful  hours  in  the  shops  of  fashionable 
couturiers  and  made  extensive  purchases,  which,  let  us  hope, 
Monsieur  le  Due  paid  for  in  hard  cash,  and  not  in  the  notes  of 
his  protege  Law's  unfortunate  bank.  She  visited  the  ateliers  of 
the  artists,  of  whom  she  had  in  former  days  been  a  generous 
patron,  and  commissioned  a  portrait  of  herself  from  Van  Loo, 
and  another  from  Rosalba,  whom  she  had  patronised  at  Turin, 
and  who  had  just  completed  a  pastel  of  Madame  de  Parabere. 
Arrayed  in  ravishing  toilettes  and  blazing  with  diamonds,  she 
did  the  honours  of  the  Hotel  de  Conde,  of  Chantilly  and  of 
Saint-Maur,  for,  very  opportunely  for  her,  the  unloved  wife  of 

1  II.  Thirion,  "Madame  de  Prie." 

2  Henri  Martin,  "  Ilistoire  de  France  jusqu'en  1 7S9."' 


CALUMNIES   AGAINST   MME.   DE   PRIE      299 

Monsieur  le  Due  had,  after  a  long  and  painful  illness,  recently 
departed  to  another  world,  leaving  the  field  quite  free  for  the 
sultana.  And  she  profoundly  troubled  the  salons  by  launching 
an  entirely  novel  method  of  arranging  the  hair,  which  became 
her  a  merveille,  but  caused  serious  inconvenience  to  some  of  the 
fashionable  dames  who  felt  constrained  to  adopt  it. 

But,  after  some  weeks,  she  was  obliged  to  give  her  mind  to 
more  serious  matters.  The  "  elevation  "  of  a  petite  bourgeoises 
daughter  of  a  fraudulent  financier  and  of  a  woman  universally 
depised,  to  be  the  favourite  of  a  prince  who  stood  so  near  the 
throne  and  might  even  one  day  ascend  it,  had  not  taken 
place  without  exciting  the  most  rancorous  jealousy  and  hatred. 
Chansons,  venomous  satires,  slanders,  calumnies,  rained  upon 
her,  until,  if  she  had  been  a  more  sensitive  woman,  she  might 
well  have  been  driven  to  the  verge  of  despair.  She  was 
charged  with  having  led  a  life  of  debauchery  from  her  earliest 
youth  ;  of  having  bewitched  Monsieur  le  Due  by  initiating  him 
into  vices  imported  by  her  from  Italy  and  hitherto  unknown 
in  France  ;  of  having  ruined  her  husband  by  her  scandalous 
extravagance ;  of  having  treated  an  unselfish  and  devoted 
mother  with  the  most  outrageous  cruelty  and  ingratitude.  She 
learned  that  in  Madame  de  Pleneuf's  circle  it  was  predicted  that 
her  triumph  would  be  of  very  brief  duration  ;  that  they  would 
soon  succeed  in  disgusting  Monsieur  le  Due  with  his  choice, 
and  that  when  she  had  fallen  from  her  high  estate  and  had 
been  abandoned  by  the  prince,  they  would  make  her  bitterly 
repent  of  her  victory. 

She  learned,  too,  that  the  position  of  Monsieur  le  Due  was 
far  from  secure,  and  that  he  had  many  powerful  enemies,  who 
were  continually  intriguing  against  him  and  who  would  not 
scruple  to  employ  every  possible  means  to  reduce  him  to  political 
impotence.     This,  however,  requires  a  word  of  explanation. 

For  some  years  past  the  bitterest  antipathy  had  existed 
between  the  Houses  of  Orleans  and  Conde.  This  feud  had 
its  origin  in  the  aversion  which  the  two  daughters  of  Louis 
XIV.  and  Madame  de  Montespan  had  always  entertained  for 
each  other,  and   which,  in  their  younger  days,  had  so  much 


300      THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE  COND&S 

disturbed  the  harmony  of  the  royal  circle  that  the  King  was  at 
length  obliged  to  threaten  them  with  banishment  from  the 
Court  if  they  could  not  live  peaceably  together.  The  hatred 
between  the  two  sisters  had  been  communicated  to  their  sons, 
the  Due  de  Chartres  and  Monsieur  le  Due,  and  intensified  by 
the  lawsuit  over  the  will  of  the  late  Monsieur  le  Prince  and  by 
the  prominence  taken  by  Monsieur  le  Due  in  the  campaign 
against  the  legitimated  princes,  whose  cause  the  Duchesse 
d'Orleans  had  espoused  with  the  most  passionate  enthusiasm. 

The  Regent  did  not  share  the  antipathy  of  his  wife  and  son 
to  the  Condes ;  indeed,  he  regarded  the  proceedings  of  them 
and  the  faction  which  they  had  gathered  about  them  with  the 
gravest  suspicion,  which  is  hardly  surprising,  having  regard  to 
the  ambitions  with  which  they  were  generally  credited.  These 
included  his  own  deposition  and  the  substitution  of  the 
Duchesse  d'Orleans  as  Regent,  the  banishment  of  Monsieur  le 
Due  and  the  Condes,  the  re-establishment  of  the  legitimated 
princes  in  their  titles  and  dignities,  the  constitution  of  a  new 
Ministry,  and  a  rapprochement  with  Spain. 

The  party  was  numerically  powerful,  including  as  it  did  a 
number  of  the  prote'ges  of  the  House  of  Orleans,  and  many 
discontented  and  ambitious  persons.  It  also  comprised  some 
very  distinguished  names:  the  Due  and  Duchesse  du  Maine, 
the  Comte  de  Toulouse,  the  Prince  de  Conde,  the  Rohans,  the 
Due  de  Montemart,  and  the  Mar£chaux  de  Villeroy,  Berwick 
and  Tallard.  But  its  most  active  and  formidable  members 
were  three  men  of  middle-class  origin :  the  Secretary  of  State 
for  War,  Le  Blanc,  the  Comte,  afterwards  the  Marechal  de 
Belle-Isle,  and  his  younger  brother,  the  Chevalier  de  Belle-Isle. 

Claude  Le  Blanc  was  the  son  of  Louis  Le  Blanc,  who  had 
been  at  one  time  intendant  of  Normandy ;  his  mother  was 
a  sister  of  the  Marechal  de  Bezons.  Born  in  1669,  he  practised 
for  some  years  at  the  Bar,  but  in  1704  was  appointed  intendant 
of  Auvergne.  He  was  an  exceedingly  able  man,  "  full  of 
intelligence,  capacity  and  resource," *  and  in  the  intendancy  of 
Flanders,  to  which  he  was  transferred  towards  the  close  of  the 

'  Saint-Simon. 


LOUIS    II  KNRI,   1>1'( 


h;om   ,\\    kngkavin 


l)K    KOURIiON,    PRIXCK    I>K   CONDK  (CALI.KD 
MONSIEUR    LK    DUG) 

<;    11V    I'.    DkKVKT,    AFTER    TilK    RAIN  RISC    R.Y    fJOliKKT 


LE  BLANC  AND  THE  BELLE-ISLES  301 

War  of  the  Austrian  Succession,  he  rendered  such  admirable 
service  that  Louis  XIV.  summoned  him  to  Court  in  order  that 
he  might  thank  him  personally. 

On  the  old  King's  death,  the  functions  of  Secretary  of  State 
for  War  were  suppressed  and  replaced  by  a  council,  of  which 
Le  Blanc  was  a  member,  but,  after  trying  this  experiment  for 
two  years,  the  Regent  decided  to  revert  to  the  old  order  of 
things,  and  the  office  was  conferred  upon  the  ex-intendant. 

Although  Le  Blanc  possessed  few  of  the  qualities  of  a 
Louvois,  and  during  the  war  with  Spain  which  followed  the 
Cellamare  conspiracy  was  guilty  of  more  than  one  grave  error, 
he  was,  on  the  whole,  far  from  an  incapable  Minister,  and  the 
Army  owed  to  him  several  useful  reforms,  while  he  always 
enjoyed  great  popularity  with  the  troops.  But,  on  the  other 
hand,  he  was  greedy,  ambitious,  unscrupulous,  and  an  incor- 
rigible intriguer,  with  whom  no  consideration  of  gratitude  or 
honour  would  be  permitted  to  weigh  for  a  moment. 

In  the  Comte  de  Belle-Isle,  who,  a  quarter  of  a  century  later, 
during  the  War  of  the  Austrian  Succession,  was  to  earn  un- 
dying renown  by  his  gallant  defence  of  Prague  and  the  masterly 
manner  in  which  he  subsequently  conducted  the  retreat  of  the 
garrison  to  Eger,  through  the  midst  of  an  enemy's  country  and 
in  the  depth  of  winter,  he  possessed  a  most  valuable  ally. 

Although  Belle-Isle  was  the  grandson  of  the  Surintendant 
Fouquet,  whose  ill-gotten  wealth  had  brought  upon  him  so 
terrible  a  punishment,  he  had,  nevertheless,  entered  the  service 
of  Louis  XIV.  and  risen  to  the  rank  of  brigadier-general.  He 
accompanied  Villars  to  the  negotiations  of  Rastadt,  and,  after 
the  conclusion  of  peace,  was  made  governor  of  Huningue. 
Appointed  marcchal  de  camp  on  the  outbreak  of  the  war 
between  France  and  Spain,  he  contributed  to  the  capture  of 
Fontarabia  and  San  Sebastian,  and,  without  having  done  any- 
thing very  notable,  contrived,  thanks  to  the  adroit  manner  in 
which  his  friend  Le  Blanc  represented  his  services,  to  acquire  a 
considerable  military  reputation  and  with  it  a  footing  at  the 
Court,  of  which  he  did  not  fail  to  profit.  Ambitious,  enter- 
prising, and  persuasive,  he  succeeded  in  insinuating  himself  into 


302       THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   COND&S 

the  favour  of  the  Regent,  and  soon  began  to  be  regarded  as  a 
very  important  personage. 

The  third  member  of  the  triumvirate,  the  Chevalier  de  Belle- 
Isle,  was  a  young  man  of  twenty-seven,  noted  for  his  dashing 
valour  in  the  field  and  his  innumerable  gallantries.  His  abilities 
were,  however,  considerable,  and  his  ambition  perhaps  even 
more  excessive  than  that  of  his  elder  brother,  whose  entire 
confidence  he  enjoyed. 

Le  Blanc  and  the  Belle-Isles,  while  secretly  the  protagonists 
of  the  opposition  party,  remained,  in  appearance,  devoted 
adherents  of  Philippe  d'Orleans,  and  this  made  them  doubly 
dangerous.  Profiting  by  the  confidence  which  the  Regent 
reposed  in  them,  they  had  lately  attempted  a  master-stroke,  by 
imputing  to  the  Due  de  Bourbon  machinations  of  their  own 
cabal  which  were  on  the  point  of  being  discovered.  They 
accused  him  of  conspiring  to  supplant  the  Regent,  and  so 
cleverly  did  they  manufacture  evidence  in  support  of  this 
charge  that  Monsieur  le  Due  had  all  the  difficulty  imaginable 
to  prove  his  innocence.  Eventually,  the  Due  d'Orleans 
accepted  his  indignant  protestations,  but  from  that  moment 
the  chief  of  the  House  of  Conde"  began  to  be  regarded  by  the 
public  as  a  possible  rival  of  his  Royal  Highness. 

Now,  by  a  singular  coincidence,  the  same  three  men  who 
had  so  nearly  succeeded  in  bringing  about  the  disgrace  of 
Monsieur  le  Due  were  the  most  devoted  of  all  the  friends  of 
Madame  de  Ple^ieuf,  and,  in  consequence,  implacable  enemies 
of  Madame  de  Prie.  Le  Blanc  had  rendered  himself  par- 
ticularly odious  to  the  Due  de  Bourbon's  mistress.  For  some 
years  past  the  Minister  had  been  completely  infatuated  with 
Madame  de  Pleneuf  and  obedient  to  her  slightest  behest,  and 
in  the  miserable  days  which  had  followed  the  discovery  of 
Agnes's  flirtation  with  M.  d'Angennes  he  had  ably  seconded 
her  mother  in  making  the  girl's  life  a  burden  to  her.  Moreover, 
whether  justly  or  no,  she  strongly  suspected  him  and  the  Belle- 
Isles  of  having  been  concerned  in  the  tragic  end  of  the 
unfortunate  d'Angennes,  who,  shortly  after  the  episode  in 
question,  had  been  found  dead  in  the  street,  pierced  by  three 


AN   INTRIGUE  WHICH   FAILED  303 

sword-thrusts,  in  circumstances  which  pointed  to  his  being  the 
victim  of  some  private  vengeance.  Again,  Le  Blanc  had,  at  his 
own  special  request,  been  appointed  a  member  of  the  com- 
mission appointed  to  investigate  the  accounts  of  M.  de  Pleneuf 
and  his  fellow-commissaries  ;  and  the  animus  he  had  displayed 
against  the  principal  delinquent  on  this  occasion — which,  it  was 
generally  believed,  had  been  prompted  by  the  desire  to  please 
Madame  de  Pleneuf,  who  had  been  for  some  years  past  on  very 
bad  terms  with  her  husband,  and,  at  the  same  time,  to  obtain 
greater  facilities  for  enjoying  that  lady's  society — had  largely 
contributed  to  his  ruin. 

And,  finally,  he  had  committed  an  action  which  would  alone 
have  sufficed  to  assure  him  the  undying  hatred  of  Madame  de 
Prie. 

We  have  mentioned  that  among  the  admirers  of  Madame  de 
Prie  at  Turin  was  the  Marquis  d'Alincourt,  son  of  the  Marechal 
de  Villeroy.  Whether  there  had  ever  been  anything  serious 
between  them  is  very  doubtful,  but,  at  any  rate,  the  lady  had 
been  indiscreet  enough  to  write  d'Alincourt  several  letters  which 
were  capable  of  such  an  interpretation.  Now,  Le  Blanc,  who 
was  a  friend  of  d'Alincourt,  knew  of  the  existence  of  these 
epistles,  and,  soon  after  Madame  de  Prie  became  the  mistress  of 
Monsieur  le  Due,  he  contrived,  by  some  means,  to  get  possession 
of  them,  and  handed  them  to  Madame  de  Pleneuf,  who  carried 
them  straight  to  her  daughter's  lover.  The  precious  pair 
doubtless  hoped  thereby  to  bring  about  a  rupture  between  the 
prince  and  his  inamorata,  but  they  had  sadly  underrated  the 
strength  of  the  former's  infatuation  ;  and  the  only  result  was  to 
disgust  him  with  persons  who  could  make  war  with  such 
weapons  and  to  intensify  the  hatred  with  which  Madame  de 
Prie  regarded  her  mother  and  the  Minister  for  War. 

As  soon  as  Madame  de  Prie  understood  the  precarious 
situation  of  Monsieur  le  Due,  and  that  her  mother's  friends,  Le 
Blanc  and  the  Belle-Isles,  were  his  most  redoubtable  enemies, 
she  recognized  that  her  interests  were  one  with  those  of  her 
lover,  and  that,  by  placing  him  in  a  position  in  which  he  would 
be  able  to  defy  them,  she  would  shelter  herself  from  their  blows. 


304       THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   COND&S 

From  that  moment,  the  line  of  action  which  it  behoved  her  to 
follow  was  clear,  and  she  determined  to  devote  all  her  talents 
and  all  her  energies  to  rallying  the  prince's  partisans  around  him 
and  thwarting  the  machinations  of  their  common  foes.  Nor 
did  she  intend  to  rest  from  her  labours  until  she  had  crushed 
them  utterly,  and  raised  Monsieur  leDucso  high  that  they  would 
be  powerless  to  injure  either  him  or  herself. 

But,  to  accomplish  this,  it  was  necessary  to  begin  by  free- 
ing herself  from  certain  embarrassments:  by  appeasing  her 
husband's  indignation  and  preventing  a  scandal,  which  might 
prejudice  her  in  the  eyes  of  those  old-fashioned  persons  who 
consented  to  condone  immorality  only  so  long  as  the  con- 
ventionalities were  duly  observed  ;  by  rehabilitating  her  father, 
whose  delinquencies  were  a  continual  reproach  to  her ;  and 
by  persuading  the  Cond£s,  and,  in  particular,  the  Dowager- 
Duchesse  de  Bourbon  to  accept  the  situation  and  admit  her  to 
their  intimacy, 

All  these  matters  were  satisfactorily  arranged.  M.  de  Prie, 
who,  at  the  beginning  of  1720,  had  resigned  his  post  at  Turin, 
returned  to  Paris  vowing  vengeance  against  his  erring  wife,  and, 
if  gossip  is  to  be  believed,  did  actually  go  so  far  as  to  give  her 
several  blows  with  his  cane.  But  he  was  a  man  of  feeble 
character,  and,  besides,  desperately  in  need  of  money  ;  and  soon, 
perceiving  in  which  direction  his  interests  lay,  he  calmed  down, 
and  eventually  took  himself  off  to  Languedoc,  with  the  title  of 
lieutenant-general  of  that  province,  which  Monsieur  le  Due  had 
been  instrumental  in  obtaining  for  him. 

Thanks  to  the  same  influence,  the  Government  consented  to 
throw  a  veil  over  the  misdeeds  of  M.  de  Pleneuf,  and  to  permit 
him  to  return  to  Paris,  though  it  refused  to  restore  him  his 
property.  His  daughter,  however,  hastened  to  provide  for  his 
necessities,  and  soon  afterwards  secured  for  him  the  post  of 
secretary  to  Sennecterre,  who  had  been  despatched  to  England 
to  discuss  with  the  British  Government  the  question  of  the 
restoration  of  Gibraltar  to  Spain. 

The  question  of  her  relations  with  the  Conde  family 
presented  some  difficulty.    The  Due  de  Bourbon's  two  brothers, 


SKILFUL   CONDUCT  OF   MME.   DE   PRIE      305 

the  Comte  de  Charolais  and  the  Comte  de  Clermont,  were 
disposed  to  be  friendly  enough.  With  the  elder,  indeed,  she 
happened  to  be  already  on  amicable  terms,  as  some  three  years 
before,  during  a  visit  to  Italy,  he  had  stayed  for  a  time  at  the 
French  Embassy  at  Turin,  and  had  been  much  pleased  by  the 
hospitality  he  had  received  ;  while  she  had  earned  the  gratitude 
of  the  Comte  de  Clermont  by  assisting  him  in  a  love-affair  with 
a  cousin  of  her  own.  But  their  sisters,  with  the  exception  of 
Mile,  de  Clermont,  were  less  inclined  to  complaisance,  while  it 
was  plain  that  Madame  la  Duchesse  looked  upon  Madame  de 
Prie's  subjugation  of  her  son  with  a  very  jaundiced  eye. 
Madame  la  Duchesse  had  very  little  affection  for  the  latter,  but 
she  aspired  to  control  all  his  actions,  and  she  strongly  resented 
the  appearance  upon  the  scene  of  a  rival  influence.  For  some 
time  she  made  no  secret  of  her  dislike  of  Madame  de  Prie,  and 
treated  her  with  the  coldest  disdain  ;  and  the  favourite  had 
need  of  all  her  suppleness  to  overcome  her  hostility.  At  length, 
however,  the  princess  decided  to  accept  the  situation,  and,  though 
she  continued  to  cherish  for  her  son's  mistress  a  strong  aversion, 
their  relations  were,  to  all  appearances,  perfectly  cordial. 

Next,  the  astute  young  woman  proceeded  to  ingratiate 
herself  with  the  Regent,  Cardinal  Dubois,  and  other  members 
of  the  Government. 

By  Philippe  d'Orleans  she  was,  as  we  have  seen,  already 
very  favourably  regarded,  and  very  soon  she  was  admitted  to 
the  circle  of  his  intimate  friends. 

Profiting  by  the  knowledge  that  Dubois,  although  he  had 
little  liking  for  Monsieur  le  Due,  cared  still  less  for  the 
adversaries. of  the  Condcs,  she  sought  eagerly  for  opportunities 
of  rendering  herself  useful  to  him,  and  succeeded  so  well 
that  before  long  she  was  able  to  reckon  with  confidence  upon 
the  support  of  his  Eminence,  who  was  becoming  more  powerful 
every  day. 

Nor  did  she  neglect  persons  who,  although  they  did  not 

occupy   any   important    ministerial    office,   were,    nevertheless, 

possessed    of    influence.      Thus,    she   succeeded    in   detaching, 

temporarily  at  least,  the  Cardinal  de  Rohan  from  the  opposing 

x 


306       THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   CONDES 

faction — a  distinct  triumph,  since  the  cardinal  was  generally 
believed  to  have  been  one  of  the  lovers  of  Madame  de  Pleneuf — 
and  in  deciding  the  Marechal  de  Villars,  d'Alincourt,  Livry, 
first  mditre  d* hotel  to  the  King,  her  uncle  by  marriage]  the 
Marechal  de  Matignon,  the  Due  de  Richelieu,  of  gallant 
memory,  for  whom,  when  Monsieur  le  Due  became  Prime 
Minister,  she  obtained  the  Embassy  of  Vienna,  and  several 
other  nobles  who  had  been  hesitating  between  the  two  parties, 
to  throw  in  their  lot  with  the  Condes. 

She  supported  Law,  too  ;  and  that  adventurous  financier 
was  not  ungrateful,  and  repaid  her  protection  by  filling  her 
purse  so  full  that  she  became  quite  independent  of  her 
lover's  bounty,  and  was  able  to  maintain  a  whole  company  of 
spies,  who  brought  her  early  information  of  the  movements  of 
the  enemy. 

And  so,  shrewd,  vigilant,  resolute,  and  courageous,  she 
pursued  the  path  she  had  marked  out  for  herself,  to  all  appear- 
ance satisfied  to  remain  on  the  defensive,  but,  in  reality,  carefully 
noting  the  weak  points  in  her  adversaries'  position,  and  watch- 
ing for  the  occasion  to  deliver  a  crushing  blow.  Nor  was  the 
occasion  long  in  presenting  itself. 

On  25  March,  1722,  Sandrier  de  Mitry,  receiver-general  of 
the  finances  of  French  Flanders,  and  secretary  and  principal 
cashier  to  La  Jonchere,1  treasurer  of  the  Emergency  War  Fund,2 
disappeared  from  his  home,  and  nothing  more  was  heard  of 
him  until  the  18th  of  the  following  month,  when  his  body, 
partially  clothed  and  pierced  by  two  wounds,  was  discovered  in 
the  Seine,  near  Marly. 

1  Gerard  Michel,  Seigneur  de  la  Jonchere. 

2  The  Emergency  War  Fund  had  been  instituted  by  Louis  XIV. 's  celebrated  War 
Minister,  Louvois,  who  wished  to  have  large  sums  of  money  always  at  hand  for  his 
great  projects,  without  being  obliged  to  take  the  Minister  of  Finance  into  his 
confidence,  and  was  maintained,  in  time  of  war,  by  contributions  levied  on 
conquered  territory,  and,  in  time  of  peace,  by  a  variety  of  means.  The  treasurers 
were  not  bound  to  render  accounts  annually,  as  in  other  Government  offices,  but 
were  permitted  to  retain  the  money  and  employ  it  in  their  own  affairs.  This  system 
had  its  advantages,  but,  on  the  other  hand,  it  lent  itself  readily  to  malversation  on 
the  part  of  those  who  had  the  management  of  the  Fund. 


MURDER  OF   SANDRIER  DE  MITRY         307 

This  mysterious  crime  created  an  immense  sensation  in 
Paris,  and  a  strong  suspicion  prevailed  that  La  Jonchere,  who 
did  not  bear  too  high  a  character,1  had  been  plundering  the 
State  ;  that  the  unfortunate  Sandrier  had  detected  the  defalca- 
tions, and  that  the  treasurer  had  caused  him  to  be  made  away 
with  in  order  to  close  the  matter. 

But  rumour,  in  certain  quarters,  went  further  than  this,  and 
accused  the  War  Minister,  Le  Blanc,  of  being  a  party  to  the 
crime,  or,  at  any  rate,  to  what  was  believed  to  be  the  cause  of 
it.  For  Le  Blanc  was  not  only  La  Jonchere's  official  chief,  but 
his  patron  and  friend,  and  it  would  have  been  almost  impossible 
for  the  treasurer  to  have  falsified  his  accounts  without  the 
Minister  being  aware  of  it. 

The  authorities,  however,  declined  to  see  the  least  connexion 
between  the  murder  of  Sandrier  and  the  position  which  he  had 
occupied,  and  nearly  a  year  passed  without  any  steps  being 
taken  against  La  Jonchere.  It  is,  indeed,  highly  improbable 
that  they  would  ever  have  been  stirred  to  action  had  not 
Madame  de  Prie  taken  upon  herself  to  intervene. 

No  sooner  did  that  energetic  lady  hear  of  the  crime  that 
had  been  committed  and  of  the  rumours  that  were  in  circulation 
concerning  La  Jonchere  and  Le  Blanc,  than  she  resolved  to 
employ  every  means  in  her  power  to  get  to  the  bottom  of  the 
affair.  Fortune  favoured  her  quest,  in  bringing  her  allies, 
wealthy,  enterprising,  and  capable,  and  as  determined  to 
compass  the  ruin  of  the  Minister  for  War  as  she  was  herself. 

Quite  apart  from  the  Conde  faction,  Le  Blanc  possessed 
many  enemies.  Of  these  the  most  powerful  were  the  four 
brothers  Paris,  the  famous  bankers,  who,  after  the  Mississippi 
crash,  had  been  entrusted  by  the  Regent  with  the  task  of 
restoring  the  public  credit.  In  the  days  before  they  had 
attained  their  present  eminence,  the  Paris  had  been  in  business 
as  army-contractors,  and  Le  Blanc,  at  that  time  Intendant  of 
Flanders,  had  caused  the  third  brother,  Paris-Le  Montagne,  to 

1  In  1717.be  had  been  summoned  before  the  tribunal  appointed  to  investigate  the 
accounts  of  the  commissaries  and  revenue-farmers,  and  ordered  to  make  restitution  to 
the  amount  of  600,000  livres  to  the  State. 


308       THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE  COND&S 

be  arrested  on  a  charge  of  rendering  fraudulent  accounts.  More 
recently  become  Minister  for  War,  he  had  accused  the  ablest 
of  the  four,  Paris-Duverney,  of  infringing  the  edicts  forbidding 
the  export  of  gold,  and,  though  Duverney  had  succeeded  in 
exculpating  himself,  both  he  and  his  brothers  were  provisionally 
banished  from  the  realm.  Hence,  the  bankers  hated  Le  Blanc 
and  had  sworn  to  be  avenged  on  him  as  soon  as  they  were  able. 

The  task  of  re-establishing  the  finances  which  had  been 
entrusted  to  them,  and  which  they  conducted  with  undeniable 
skill,  of  course  included  an  examination  of  the  accounts  of  the 
public  services.  Scarcely  had  they  begun  to  investigate  those 
of  the  Ministry  for  War  than  they  discovered  such  flagrant 
irregularities  as  to  leave  little  room  for  doubt  that  a  system  of 
wholesale  robbery  prevailed.  They  immediately  drew  up  a 
report  to  that  effect  and  despatched  it  to  the  Regent,  but,  in 
their  eagerness  to  bring  their  enemy  to  account,  they  had  not 
waited  to  substantiate  the  charges  they  made  ;  and  Philippe 
d'Orleans,  with  whom  Le  Blanc  was  just  then  in  high  favour, 
excused  himself  from  moving  in  the  matter,  on  the  ground  that 
the  Minister  for  War  had  rendered  undoubted  service  to  the 
State,  and  was  extremely  popular  with  the  Army,  and  that,  in 
the  present  critical  condition  of  affairs,  it  would  be  better  to 
watch  his  future  conduct  than  to  criticize  his  past  acts. 

The  bankers  were  greatly  mortified  by  this  repulse.  Never- 
theless, they  were  too  embittered  against  Le  Blanc,  and  too 
apprehensive  of  reprisals  on  his  part,  to  abandon  the  struggle  ; 
and  they  accordingly  began  to  look  about  them  for  some  power- 
ful ally,  whose  assistance  might  enable  them  to  resume  it  with 
some  prospect  of  success. 

Naturally,  their  thoughts  turned  in  the  direction  of  the  Due 
de  Bourbon,  but,  since  they  had  been  the  most  strenuous 
opponents  of  his  protege  Law,  and  they  feared  that  the  prince 
might  harbour  some  resentment  against  them  on  that  account, 
they  hesitated  to  approach  him.  Great  therefore  was  their 
satisfaction,  when  one  day  they  received  a  letter  from  Madame 
de  Prie  proposing  an  alliance  between  them  and  the  House  of 
Conde  against  the  common  enemy. 


MME.  DE  PRIE  AND   THE  PARIS  309 

The  alliance  was  soon  concluded,  and,  supported  openly  by 
the  whole  weight  of  the  Conde  influence,  and  encouraged  in 
secret  by  Dubois,  whose  jealousy  of  Le  Blanc  Madame  de  Prie 
had  artfully  fanned,  the  Paris  brothers  again  advanced  to  the 
attack,  and  demanded  that  a  commission  should  be  appointed 
to  investigate  the  accounts  of  the  Ministry  for  War. 

Their  demand  was  conceded,  the  commissioners  had  been 
already  nominated,  and  every  one  was  expecting  to  hear  that 
Le  Blanc  and  La  Jonchere  had  been  summoned  to  appear  before 
them,  when  the  faction  opposed  to  the  Cond6s,  with  the  Due 
de  Chartres,  the  Prince  de  Conti,  and  the  legitimated  princes 
at  its  head,  started  a  violent  agitation  in  favour  of  Le  Blanc,  and 
carried  the  war  into  the  enemy's  camp  by  accusing  the  Paris 
brothers  of  having  themselves  despoiled  the  State.  This 
furnished  the  Regent  with  a  pretext  for  intervening  between 
the  accused  and  justice,  and  the  meeting  of  the  commission 
was  postponed  sine  die. 

Madame  de  Prie,  however,  did  not  despair.  She  had  made 
sure  of  the  support  of  Dubois,  who  in  August,  1722,  had  been 
named  ministre  principal — the  same  title  which  had  been  given 
the  Cardinal  de  Richelieu — and  her  several  agents  were  every- 
where at  work.  Daily  the  evidence  against  Le  Blanc  was 
accumulating  in  her  hands ;  towards  the  end  of  the  spring  of 
1723,  it  was  so  overwhelming  that  she  felt  that  it  would  be 
impossible  for  the  Regent  to  ignore  it. 

She  had  ascertained  that,  apart  from  their  official  relations, 
Le  Blanc  and  La  Jonchere  were  on  terms  of  the  closest  intimacy ; 
that  the  latter  had  a  pretty  and  coquettish  wife,  whom  he  had 
complacently  surrendered  to  his  chief,  being  himself  in  love  with 
the  wife  of  the  unfortunate  Sandrier  ;  that  he  lived  in  almost 
princely  style,  and  had,  moreover,  advanced  large  sums  of  money 
to  the  Comte  de  Belle-Isle,  to  defray  the  cost  of  a  magnificent 
hotel  which  he  was  building  on  the  banks  of  the  Seine,  opposite 
the  Tuileries  ;  that,  on  learning  of  the  death  of  Sandrier,  Le 
Blanc  had  shown  so  much  emotion  that  every  one  present  was 
astonished,  and  that  a  day  or  two  later  he  fell  ill  and  was 
obliged  to  take  to  his  bed.     And,  finally,  she  discovered  that  it 


310       THE  LOVE-AFFAIRS  OF  THE   COND&S 

was  practically  certain  that,  in  robbing  the  State,  Le  Blanc  and 
La  Jonchere  had  been  acting  with  the  connivance  of  the  Palais- 
Royal,  and  that  a  considerable  portion  of  the  spoil  had  found 
its  way  into  the  Regent's  coffers. 

When  she  judged  that  the  moment  for  action  had  arrived, 
Madame  de  Prie  communicated  with  Dubois,  who,  armed  with 
the  reports  she  had  sent  him,  went  to  the  Regent,  laid  them 
before  him,  and  told  him  very  plainly  that  he  could  no  longer 
support  Le  Blanc  without  being  immediately  compromised. 

Philippe  d'Orleans,  after  a  perusal  of  the  documents,  was 
obliged  to  acknowledge  that  the  Minister  was  right,  and 
authorized  him  to  take  what  steps  he  considered  advisable  in 
the  matter.  Dubois  lost  no  time  in  setting  the  Law  in  motion  ; 
the  commission  met  at  the  house  of  the  Marechal  de  Villars, 
who  had  been  appointed  president ;  and  on  24  May  La  Jonchere 
was  arrested  as  he  was  returning  from  Versailles,  in  virtue  of  a 
lettre  de  cachet  signed  by  the  Cardinal,  and  conducted  to  the 
Bastille,  while  the  seals  were  placed  on  his  hotel  in  the  Rue 
Saint-Honor^,  and  all  his  registers  and  >papers  seized  by  the 
police.  At  the  Bastille,  La  Jonchere  was  subjected  to  two  long 
interrogatories  by  Ravot  d'Ombreval,  a  relative  of  Dubois,  who 
acted  as  attorney-general  to  the  commission.  He  appeared 
very  agitated,  contradicted  himself  several  times,  and  ended  by 
admitting  that  he  had  acted  dishonestly,  and  that  he  was  not 
the  only  one  guilty,  though  he  obstinately  refused  to  give  the 
names  of  his  accomplices. 

A  few  days  later,  two  of  La  Jonchere's  principal  clerks 
were  also  arrested,  and  on  18  June  the  treasurer  was  conducted 
to  his  house  to  be  present  at  the  raising  of  the  seals  and  the 
sorting  of  his  papers.  This  operation  lasted  from  eleven  o'clock 
in  the  morning  until  nine  in  the  evening,  when  he  was  escorted 
back  to  the  Bastille,  guarded  by  forty  archers  and  followed  by 
two  carts  filled  with  his  registers  and  papers.  The  examination 
of  these,  which  was  carried  out  under  the  supervision  of  the 
Lieutenant  of  Police,  d'Argenson,  revealed  immense  defalca- 
tions, and,  moreover,  left  no  room  for  doubt  as  to  the  culpability 
of  Le  Blanc.     It  also  showed  that  La  Jonchere  had  received  a 


DISGRACE  OF  LE  BLANC  3" 

great  number  of  the  discredited  notes  of  Law's  Bank,  for 
which  he  had  presumably  given  in  exchange  gold  to  the  amount 
of  their  face  value. 

On  i  July,  Le  Blanc  received  orders  from  the  King  to  send 
him  his  resignation  of  the  office  of  Secretary  of  State  for  War, 
and  to  retire  immediately  to  the  Chateau  of  Dou6,  belonging  to 
his  son-in-law,  the  Marquis  de  Traisnel.  A  few  days  later,  he 
was  replaced  by  the  Marquis  de  Breteuil,1  a  devoted  adherent 
of  Monsieur  le  Due  and  Madame  de  Prie.  On  the  16th,  the 
commission,  which  was  now  established  at  the  Arsenal,  sum- 
moned the  two  Belle-Isles  to  appear  before  it,  together  with  the 
Marquis  de  Conches  and  the  Comte  de  Mayieres,  two  lieutenant- 
generals  attached  to  Le  Blanc,  and  several  other  persons.  The 
Belle-Isles  adopted  a  haughty  tone,  and  protested  their  inno- 
cence with  such  indignation  that  the  commission  were  visibly 
impressed.  However,  the  discovery  of  a  note  concealed  behind 
the  grate  in  La  Jonchere's  bedroom,  in  the  Rue  Saint-Honore, 
in  which  the  elder  brother  acknowledged  the  receipt  of 
1,800,000  livres  from  the  treasurer,  put  a  different  complexion 
upon  the  matter. 

The  utmost  consternation  now  reigned  among  the  Orleans 
faction,  and  it  seemed  as  though  Madame  de  Prie  had  suc- 
ceeded in  reducing  the  enemies  of  herself  and  her  lover  to 
complete  impotence,  when  the  death  of  Dubois,  which  occurred 
on  10  August,  1723,  intervened  to  save  them,  or,  at  any  rate,  to 
procure  them  a  respite  of  some  months. 

With  the  disappearance  from  the  political  scene  of  the 
ambitious  cardinal,  whose  will  had  so  long  dominated  his  own, 
Philippe  d'Orleans  resumed  his  liberty  of  action.  On  the  very 
day  on  which  Dubois  died,  he  demanded  and  obtained  from  the 
King  the  post  of  Prime  Minister,  cleverly  forestalling  JSIonsieur 
le  Due,  who,  on  the  advice  of  his  mistress,  had  decided  to  ask 
for  it  himself ;  and  thus  united  in  his  own  person  the  titles  of 
heir-presumptive  to  the  Crown  and  Prime  Minister. 

1  The  letter  in  which  Breteuil  received  his  nomination  stated  that  Le  Blanc  had 
begged  the  King  to  permit  him  to  retire.  This  was  to  soften  his  disgrace,  which 
was  none  the  less  real. 


312       THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   COND&S 

The  question  as  to  which  of  the  two  parties  the  prince 
would  incline  greatly  agitated  the  public  mind,  and  it  was  the 
opinion  of  most  that  he  would  favour  that  of  his  wife  and  son. 
It  is  very  probable  that  he  would  have  done  so,  had  Monsieur  le 
Ducbeen  so  maladroit  as  to  display  any  mortification  at  his  having 
stolen  a  march  upon  him,  in  which  case  the  work  of  so  many 
months  might  have  been  undone  in  a  few  hours.  But  Madame 
de  Prie  was  far  too  astute  to  permit  her  lover  to  commit  a 
blunder  of  this  kind  ;  and,  prompted  by  her,  the  Due  de  Bourbon 
hastened  to  repair  to  the  Palais-Royal,  to  present  his  com- 
pliments to  the  new  Prime  Minister  and  to  assure  him  of  his 
devotion  to  his  person. 

Thanks  to  this  prudent  conduct,  although  they  were  not 
allowed  to  follow  up  their  victory,  they  retained  possession  of 
the  greater  part  of  the  field.  Le  Blanc  remained  in  exile,  and 
his  successor,  Breteuil,  who,  as  we  have  mentioned,  was  devoted 
to  their  cause,  was  confirmed  in  his  office :  La  Jonchere 
remained  under  lock  and  key ;  while  the  Belle-Isles  and  their 
creatures,  though  they  remained  at  liberty,  were  kept  under 
observation.  Finally — and  this,  we  may  be  sure,  was  not  the 
least  satisfaction  to  Madame  de  Prie — her  mother  found  herself 
neglected  and  reduced  to  poverty. 

Such  was  the  position  of  affairs  when,  on  2  December,  1723, 
the  Due  d'Orleans  was  suddenly  attacked  by  apoplexy  at 
Versailles,  and  expired  almost  immediately,  imthe  arms  of  his 
latest  inamorata,  Madame  de  Phalaris.  Of  all  the  princes, 
Monsieur  le  Due  happened  to  be  the  only  one  on  the  spot,  and 
he  did  not  fail  to  profit  by  his  good  fortune.  Following  the 
procedure  adopted  by  the  deceased  prince  on  the  day  of 
Dubois's  death,  he  hastened  to  the  King,  informed  him  of  the 
loss  which  he  had  just  sustained,  and,  almost  in  the  same 
breath,  demanded  the  vacant  post  of  Prime  Minister.  His 
youthful  Majesty,  "  without  being  moved  by  the  news," 
conferred  it  upon  him  ;  the  prince,  in  accordance  with  custom, 
forthwith  took  the  oath  and  received  the  patent ;  and  when,  a 
few  hours  later,  the  Due  de  Chartres,  who  had  received  the  news 
of  his  father's  death  at  the  Opera  in  Paris,   or,  according  to 


M.  LE   DUC  PRIME  MINISTER  313 

another  account,  in  the  boudoir  of  an  Opera-girl  whose  society 
he  affected,  came  galloping  madly  into  Versailles,  he  found,  to 
his  profound  disgust,  the  place  to  which  he  himself  aspired 
already  filled.  Monsieur  le  Due  was  the  master  of  the  realm, 
and  Madame  de  Prie  mistress  of  all  that  was  his. 


CHAPTER   XXII 

Beginning  of  the  Ministry  of  Monsieur  le  Due — His  early  popularity — 
Difficulties  of  the  situation— Philippe  d'Orleans  replaced  by  three  new 
powers  :  Louis  XV.,  Fleury,  and  Philip  V.  of  Spain — Futile  negotiations 
between  Monsieur  le  Due  and  the  Orleans  faction — Madame  de  Prie  advises 
the  prince  to  take  the  offensive — Resumption  of  the  proceedings  against  La 
Jonchere  and  his  accomplices — Indignation  and  alarm  of  the  Orldanists — 
Attempted  assassination  of  La  Guilloniere,  in  mistake  for  Paris-Duverney — 
Conspiracy  against  the  lives  of  Monsieur  le  Due  and  his  mistress — Madame 
de  Prie  insists  on  prompt  and  energetic  action,  and  Le  Blanc  and  the  Belle- 
Isles  are  thrown  into  the  Bastille — Arrest  of  Lempereur  and  other  persons — 
The  Government  is  determined  on  the  total  ruin  of  Le  Blanc — Murder  of 
Gazan  de  la  Combe — La  Blanc  claims  the  privilege  of  being  tried  by  the 
assembled  chambers  of  the  Parlement — Efforts  of  Monsieur  le  Due  and 
Madame  de  Prie  to  counteract  the  influence  of  Fleury  over  Louis  XV. — 
Recall  of  Villeroy— Visit  of  the  King  of  Chantilly — Trial  of  Le  Blanc — 
Extraordinary  proceedings — Acquittal  of  the  accused. 

OUTSIDE  the  faction  opposed  to  the  Condes,  the 
elevation  of  Monsieur  le  Due  was  not  ill  received. 
With  the  bulk  of  the  nation  Philippe  d'Orleans  had 
never  been  popular.  The  people  had  been  unable  to  forget  the 
horrible  suspicions  concerning  him  which  the  successive  deaths 
of  the  Due  and  Duchesse  de  Bourgogne,  the  little  Due  de 
Bretagne  and  the  Due  de  Berry  had  aroused,  and  many  worthy 
persons  steadfastly  refused  to  see  in  the  really  touching  respect 
and  affection  which  he  had  always  shown  for  the  young  King 
anything  but  a  cloak  for  the  most  sinister  designs.  The 
middle-classes  blamed  him  for  the  financial  disasters  which  had 
involved  so  many  of  them  in  ruin,  and  credited  him,  very 
absurdly,  with  the  intention  of  recalling  Law.  The  clergy  and 
the  devout  had  been  alienated  by  his  debauched  life  and  his 
contempt  for  religion.     Thus,  the  very  real  service  which  he  had 

3H 


MOMENTARY   POPULARITY  OF  M.  LE  DUC    315 

rendered  France  in  maintaining  peace,  with  the  exception  of 
a  brief  interval,  for  eight  years,  was  forgotten,  and  the  advent  of 
his  successor  hailed  with  almost  a  sigh  of  relief. 

It  is  true  that  there  were  not  a  few,  such  as  the  advocate 
Barbier,  who  regretted  the  change  of  rulers,  and  predicted  that 
it  was  Madame  de  Prie  who  would  govern  the  kingdom,  and 
"  lay  her  hands  on  as  much  money  as  she  could  "  ; x  but,  on  the 
whole,  the  possibility  of  a  term  of  petticoat  government  does 
not  appear  to  have  aroused  much  uneasiness. 

Monsieur  le  Due,  on  his  side,  neglected  nothing  to  make 
himself  popular.  Though  his  manners  were  usually  somewhat 
brusque,  he  could  be  charming  when  he  chose  to  take  the 
trouble,  and,  during  the  first  few  weeks  of  his  Ministry,  he  was 
so  affable  and  so  courteous,  so  considerate  and  so  obliging,  that 
he  pleased  everyone  who  approached  him.  The  good  im- 
pression thus  created  was  strengthened  by  the  diminution  of 
several  taxes  which  had  weighed  very  hardly  on  the  Parisians, 
and  by  the  magnanimity  he  displayed  towards  those  whose 
hostility  to  him  was  notorious  ;  and  soon  the  gazettes  were 
chanting  in  unison  the  praises  of  the  new  Prime  Minister,  and 
declaring  that  France  was  indeed  fortunate  to  have  so  admirable 
a  prince  at  the  head  of  affairs. 

But  this  popularity  was  only  momentary,  for  the  difficulties 
of  the  situation  were  immense,  the  task  before  him  one  of  the 
most  ungrateful  that  could  well  be  imagined  ;  and  it  would 
have  needed  a  far  more  experienced  and  subtle  politician  than 
Monsieur  le  Due  to  have  steered  a  safe  course  amid  the  shoals 
and  quicksands  that  surrounded  him.  The  Treasury  was  empty 
and  the  follies  of  the  "  System  "  still  unpaid  for  ;  commerce  was 
almost  annihilated  ;  the  Church  rent  by  the  Jansenist  schism  ; 
the  Court  a  battle-ground  for  contending  factions,  one  of  which 
regarded  the  new  Prime  Minister  with  the  bitterest  hostility. 
And,  in  place  of  the  Regent  and  Dubois,  three  new  powers  had 
arisen  ;  two  close  at  hand,  the  young  King  and  his  preceptor, 
Fleury,  Bishop  of  Frejus  ;  the  other  distant,  Spain,  represented 
by  Philip  V. 

1  "Journal  de  Barbier,"  December,  1723. 


316       THE  LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE  COND&S 

The  young  Louis  XV.,  whose  majority  had  been  proclaimed 
six  months  before,  on  completing  his  thirteenth  year,  was  a 
most  perplexing  factor  in  the  situation.  D'Argenson  calls 
him  "  an  impenetrable  personage "  ;  Luynes  "  an  indefinable 
being"  ;  in  a  word,  he  was  a  mystery  to  the  whole  Court. 
Ostensibly,  he  cared  for  nothing  but  the  chase,  gambling l  and 
the  pleasures  of  the  table  ;  but  many  were  of  opinion  that  this 
frivolity  and  indifference  were  but  assumed  ;  that  very  little  that 
took  place  escaped  him  ;  and  that  the  time  was  not  far  distant 
when  he  would  begin  to  assert  his  authority  in  no  uncertain 
manner.  Morose,  uncommunicative,  egotistical,  he  repulsed  all 
the  efforts  of  the  courtiers  of  both  sexes  to  ingratiate  themselves 
with  him,  and  reserved  his  confidence,  and  the  little  affection  of 
which  he  seemed  capable,  for  one  person — his  preceptor,  the 
Bishop  of  Frejus. 

The  rise  of  Andre  Hercule  Fleury  had  been  remarkable. 
Though  without  great  talents  or  high  connexions — he  was  the 
son  of  a  collector  of  taxes  at  his  native  town  of  Lodeve — he  had 
understood  so  well  the  art  of  insinuating  himself  into  the  good 
graces  of  every  one  who  was  in  a  position  to  advance  his 
fortunes,  that  obstacles  disappeared  before  him  as  snow  melts 
in  the  sun.  "He  was  what  one  might  call  a  true  wheedler," 
writes  Saint-Simon,  who  allows  us  to  perceive  in  the  portrait 
which  he  has  drawn  of  him  something  of  the  jealousy  which  his 
extraordinary  good  fortune  had  inspired.  He  wheedled  himself 
into  the  favour  of  the  Cardinal  de  Bonzy,  who  brought  him  to 
Court  and  obtained  for  him  the  post  of  almoner  to  Queen  Maria 
Theresa  ;  he  wheedled  himself  into  that  of  his  royal  mistress,  of 
the  Duchesse  de  Bourgogne,  of  the  Due  and  Duchesse  du  Maine, 
and,  finally,  into  that  of  Louis  XIV,  who  a  few  months  before  his 
death  nominated  him  preceptor  to  the  Dauphin. 

If  he  failed  to  cultivate  the  good  qualities  which  Louis  XV. 
showed  as  a  child,  and  cannot  therefore  escape  some  of  the 
responsibility  for  the  scandals  and  the  disasters  of  that  unfortu- 
nate reign,  he   succeeded  little  by  little  in  gaining  the  entire 

1  Louis  XV.'s  love  of  play  first  revealed  itself  towards  the  end  of  1722.     In  July, 
1724,  Marais  writes  that  "  the  King  is  a  terrible  gambler." 


FK'iM     AN     !•: 


AXDKK    IIKRCUI.K.  CARDINAL    HI.    ll.l.TKN 
iuavim;  itv  r.   dukvkt,  ai-tkk   i'iik  painiim;  i-.y  iiva.  i\ih 


FLEURY,   BISHOP   OF  FRfijUS  317 

confidence  of  his  pupil.  Jealous  of  his  influence,  Philippe  d'Or- 
leans  endeavoured  to  separate  him  from  the  boy  by  the  offer  of 
the  archbishopric  of  Rheims,  the  first  episcopal  dignity  in  the 
realm.  But  Fleury  knew  where  his  true  interests  lay,  and 
declined  it.  Nothing,  he  declared,  should  distract  him  from  the 
duty  which  he  owed  to  his  young  Sovereign.  When,  in  1722, 
Louis  XV.'s  gouverneitr,  the  Marechal  de  Villeroy,  was  banished 
by  the  Regent  from  Court,  Fleury,  deeming  that  his  honour 
obliged  him  to  share  the  disgrace  of  his  superior  and  protector, 
followed  him  into  exile.  But  his  departure  occasioned  the 
young  King  such  distress  that  he  lost  no  time  in  recalling  him, 
by  a  letter  in  his  own  hand — an  action  upon  which  it  is 
probable  the  astute  old  gentleman  had  confidently  counted. 

At  the  time  of  the  death  of  Philippe  d'Orleans,  Fleury  was 
in  his  seventy-first  year,  an  age  at  which  most  men  have 
renounced  ambition  and  are  thinking  only  of  repose.  The 
Bishop  of  Frejus,  however,  felt  that  he  had  some  years  of 
activity  yet  before  him,  and  he  was  resolved  to  climb  to  the 
very  pinnacle  of  fortune.  He  might  easily  have  persuaded 
Louis  XV.  to  make  him  Prime  Minister,  but  he  counselled  the 
young  King  to  entrust  the  direction  of  affairs  to  the  Due  de 
Bourbon  ;  perhaps,  because  he  hoped  to  govern  through  him  ; 
more  probably,  because  he  foresaw  that  Monsieur  le  Dues 
Ministry  must  be  of  brief  duration,  and  that  his  own  elevation 
would  be  far  better  received  after  the  prince  had  been  allowed 
his  chance. 

Monsieur  le  Due  and  Madame  de  Prie  were  not  blind  to  the 
danger  which  threatened  from  this  quarter.  In  his  quality  of 
priest,  Fleury  could  not  fail  to  disapprove  of  the  relations  exist- 
ing between  them,  and  that  he  had  communicated  his  sentiments 
to  his  royal  pupil  was  very  evident  from  the  coldness  with  which 
his  Majesty  treated  the  marchioness.  Nor  could  it  be  said  that 
the  King  regarded  Monsieur  le  Due  with  any  marked  degree  of 
favour  ;  indeed,  he  appeared  to  avoid  him,  and  not  infrequently 
when  the  Prime  Minister  had  requested  an  audience,  he  was 
informed  that  M.  de  Frejus  would  receive  any  communication 
that  he  might  wish  to  make. 


318       THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   COND&S 

Encouraged  by  this,  the  Orleans  party  began  to  make  over- 
tures to  Fleury  with  a  view  to  an  alliance.  But  the  preceptor 
preferred  to  retain  his  liberty  of  action,  and  their  advances  met 
with  no  formal  response.  It  was,  however,  impossible  to  say  how 
long  he  would  continue  to  remain  neutral,  and  the  possibility 
of  so  powerful  a  coalition  being  formed  against  them  occasioned 
the  Due  de  Bourbon  and  his  mistress  profound  uneasiness, 

The  third  power  was  Philip  V.  of  Spain. 

After  the  conclusion  of  peace  between  France  and  Spain  at 
the  beginning  of  1720,  the  Regent  and  Dubois,  anxious  to  re- 
establish friendly  relations  between  the  two  great  branches  of 
the  House  of  Bourbon,  proposed  a  triple  matrimonial  alliance, 
to  which  Philip  V.  and  Isabella  Farnese  readily  consented.  In 
accordance  with  this  arrangement,  the  Infanta  Isabella  Luisa, 
then  in  her  fifth  year,  was  sent  to  the  Court  of  France,  to  be 
brought  up  until  she  had  reached  a  marriageable  age,  when 
she  was  to  become  the  wife  of  Louis  XV.  ;  the  fourth  of  the 
Regent's  six  daughters,  Mile,  de  Montpensier,  was  married  to 
the  Prince  of  the  Asturias,  heir  to  the  Crown  of  Spain ;  while 
the  fifth  of  the  Orleans  princesses,  Mile,  de  Beaujolais,  who  was 
only  six  years  old,  was  sent  to  Madrid,  where  it  was  proposed 
that,  in  due  course,  she  should  wed  Don  Carlos,  the  eldest  son 
of  Philip  V.  and  his  second  wife,  Isabella  Farnese. 

Connected  thus  closely  with  the  Orleans,  Philip  V.  had 
everything  to  lose  by  events  which  excluded  his  allies  from 
power.  In  January,  1724,  he  had  abdicated  in  favour  of  the  Prince 
of  the  Asturias,  though  the  new  king's  authority  was  merely 
nominal,  and  on  the  son's  death,  some  months  later,  the  father 
resumed  the  Crown.  Some  writers  maintain  that  this  abdica- 
tion was  in  fulfilment  of  a  vow  that  he  had  made  in  1720  ; 
others  believe  that  it  was  intended  to  facilitate  his  designs  on 
the  French  throne  ;  and  this  is  far  from  improbable.  For  it  is 
certain  that  Philip  had  not  abandoned  the  hopes  which  he  had 
cherished  since  the  death  of  his  grandfather,  and  which  the 
feeble  health  of  Louis  XV.,  the  well-known  incapacity  of  the  new 
Due  d'Orleans,  and  the  false  reports  of  his  partisans  concern- 
ing the  popularity  which  he  enjoyed  in  Paris,  served  to  sustain. 


M.    LE   DUC  AND  THE  ORLfiANISTS         319 

But  Monsieur  le  Dtic  was  determined  to  resist  to  the  uttermost 
any  such  pretensions,  if  only  from  jealousy  of  the  Orleans. 
Hence,  Philip  detested  the  new  Prime  Minister,  who  was  well 
aware  that  his  Catholic  Majesty  would  employ  all  the  influence 
he  possessed  at  the  Court  of  France  to  effect  his  overthrow. 

In  the  face  of  these  dangers  and  embarrassments,  it  was 
only  natural  that  Monsieur  le  Due  should  have  proceeded  at  first 
with  caution  and  moderation,  and  have  gone  as  far  as  he  could 
reasonably  be  expected  to  go  to  disarm  the  malice  of  his  foes. 
Such  a  course,  indeed,  was  dictated  by  the  most  elementary 
prudence.  It  served,  however,  no  useful  purpose  beyond 
proving  to  him  the  futility  of  attempting  to  conciliate  those 
whom  nothing  but  a  virtual  renunciation  of  his  authority 
would  be  likely  to  satisfy.  The  Due  d'Orleans,  it  is  true, 
declared  himself,  in  his  own  name  and  that  of  his  party, 
perfectly  willing  for  an  immediate  reconciliation,  and  offered 
to  marry  Mile  de  Sens,  the  youngest  sister  of  his  rival.  But 
the  conditions  he  desired  to  impose — the  recall  of  Le  Blanc 
and  his  restoration  to  the  Ministry  for  War,  and  his  own 
admission  to  every  audience  which  Monsieur  le  Due  had  with 
the  King — were  quite  impossible  for  the  other  to  accept. 

However,  the  Prime  Minster,  on  the  advice  of  his  mistress, 
begged  to  be  excused  from  giving  an  immediate  answer  and 
demanded  a  few  weeks  for  reflection.  A  brief  truce  followed, 
during  which  Monsieur  le  Due  still  further  strengthened  his  repu- 
tation for  impartiality  by  including  a  number  of  combatants 
from  the  opposite  camp  in  an  important  promotion  to  the  Ordre 
du  Saint-Esprit.  The  new  cordons  bleus  also  included  the  husband 
and  personal  friends  of  Madame  de  Prie,  who,  at  the  same  time, 
obtained  for  herself  a  lodging  in  the  Chateau  of  Versailles. 
This  was  a  move  of  the  first  importance,  since  it  enabled  Monsieur 
le  Due  to  have  close  at  hand  in  every  emergency  the  woman 
who  was  not  only  his  mistress,  but  his  most  trusted  counsellor. 

In  these  early  days  of  the  new  regime,  the  favourite 
appeared  to  be  taking  little  or  no  interest  in  politics  and  to 
be  absorbed  wholly  in  pleasure.  Never  had  Chantilly  received 
so  many  visitors  ;  while,  when  Monsieur  le  Due  was  in  Paris  or 


320       THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   CONDES 

at  Versailles,  the  H6tel  de  Cond6  or  the  H6tel  of  the  Grand 
Master  was  always  the  centre  of  animation.  The  latter  hotel, 
which  the  King  had  lately  purchased  from  the  Dowager- 
Princess  de  Conti  and  presented  to  the  prince,  was  transformed 
by  Monsieur  le  Due  and  his  mistress,  whose  good  taste  was 
indisputable,  into  the  most  charming  residence  imaginable. 
The  two  Coypels,  Jean  Francois  de  Troy,  Louis  de  Boulogne, 
Lemoine,  Verdier,  Restout,  Cazes — all  the  best  painters  and 
sculptors  of  the  day — were  employed  in  the  decoration  of  its 
salons ;  splendid  tapestries,  exquisite  porcelain,  costly  objets 
dart  were  to  be  seen  on  every  side. 

The  favourite  possessed  a  beautiful  voice  and  a  wonderful 
talent  of  interpretation.  During  her  residence  at  Turin  she 
had  conceived  a  passion  for  the  works  of  the  Italian  composers, 
up  to  this  time  very  little  known  in  France.  With  the  aid  of 
Crozat,  a  wealthy  banker  of  the  Rue  des  Petits-Champs,  who 
shared  her  enthusiasm,  she  proceeded  to  organize  a  company  of 
amateurs,  who  gave  concerts  at  the  houses  of  several  persons  of 
distinction.  These  artistic  reunions  soon  became  popular  and 
undoubtedly  contributed  to  form  the  taste  of  the  nation. 

But  while  Madame  de  Prie,  all  smiles  and  gaiety,  seemed 
to  have  no  thought  beyond  the  enjoy menti  of  life,  she  was 
in  secret  carefully  maturing  her  plans.  Since  the  hostile 
faction  refused  to  be  placated,  save  at  a  price  which  would 
entail  the  virtual  sacrifice  of  all  that  the  Condes  had  gained, 
she  was  determined  to  continue  the  struggle  ;  and  she  had 
persuaded  Monsieur  le  Due  that  the  wiser  course  was  not  to 
wait  to  be  attacked,  but  to  take  the  offensive  themselves. 

Towards  the  middle  of  February,  1724,  no  small  sensation 
was  aroused  by  the  news  that  Ravot  d'Ombreval  had  been 
appointed  Lieutenant  of  Police  in  place  of  d'Argenson,  whom 
the  Due  de  Chartres  had  persuaded  to  resign  his  office, 
and  that  Paris-Duverney  had  become  Guardian  of  the  Royal 
Treasure.  These  appointments  were  very  significant,  for 
d'Ombreval,  besides  being  a  devoted  adherent  of  Monsieur  le  Due 
and  Madame  de  Prie,  had  acted  as  prosecuting  counsel  before 
the  Commission,  while  Duverney  and  his   brothers  weie  the 


ATTEMPTED   MURDER   OF  LA  GUILLONIERE    321 

most  implacable  of  all  the  enemies  of  Le  Blanc ;  and  little 
surprise  was  expressed  at  the  announcement,  a  few  days  later, 
that  the  proceedings  against  La  Jonchere  were  to  be  resumed 
forthwith. 

The  indignation  and  alarm  of  the  Orleanists  knew  no 
bounds,  for  those  already  summoned  before  the  Commission 
were  not  the  only  persons  who  had  had  interesting  financial 
transactions  with  the  treasurer  of  the  Emergency  War  Fund, 
and,  now  that  the  Condes  were  in  power,  there  was  no  saying 
how  far  the  net  might  not  be  cast,  added  to  which  there  was  the 
murder  of  Sandrier,  which  would  without  doubt  be  closely 
investigated. 

From  several  quarters  warnings  reached  Monsieur  le  Due 
and  Madame  de  Prie  that  the  lives  of  Duverney  and  d'Om- 
breval,  if  not  their  own,  were  in  danger.  They  refused  to 
attach  any  importance  to  them,  for,  though  they  were  aware  of 
the  unscrupulous  character  of  some  of  their  adversaries,  they 
could  not  bring  themselves  to  believe  that  they  would  carry 
their  enmity  to  such  lengths.  However,  they  had  soon  cause 
to  alter  their  opinion. 

One  evening,  at  the  end  of  February,  1724,  a  M.  de  la 
Guilloniere,  a  cousin  of  the  Paris  brothers,  had  just  alighted 
from  his  coach  at  the  door  of  Duverney's  hotel  in  the  Rue 
Saint-Antoine,  when  he  was  set  upon  by  masked  men,  who 
stabbed  him  in  several  places,  and  then  took  to  flight,  leaving 
him  apparently  dead  upon  the  ground.  Happily  his  wounds, 
though  dangerous,  were  not  mortal,  and  eventually  he  recovered. 

Now,  La  Guilloniere,  both  in  build  and  gait,  bore  a  strong 
resemblance  to  Duverney,  and  no  reasonable  doubt  existed 
that  the  blows  aimed  at  him  had  been  intended  for  his  cousin, 
for  the  would-be  assassins  had  been  observed  loitering  round 
the  banker's  hotel  for  some  time  previously. 

A  warning  which  Monsieur  le  Dae  received  a  day  or  two 
later  made  it  equally  clear  that,  Duverney  disposed  of,  the 
scoundrels  intended  to  turn  their  attentions  to  more  exalted 
personages. 

The  Cardinal  de  Noailles,  Archbishop  of  Paris,  demanded 


322       THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   COND&S 

an  audience  of  the  Prime  Minister  on  a  matter  of  the  most 
urgent  importance,  and,  when  admitted,  told  him,  in  great 
agitation,  that  he  had  just  learned  from  one  of  his  priests  that, 
in  a  confession  which  had  been  made  to  him,  the  penitent 
had  spoken  of  a  plot  to  murder  both  Monsieur  le  Due  and 
Madame  de  Prie.  The  prelate  had  hesitated  before  violating 
the  secret  of  the  confessional,  but  reasons  of  State  had  prevailed. 

Almost  at  the  same  time,  a  letter  which  the  Chevalier  de 
Belle-Isle  had  endeavoured  to  pass  into  the  Bastille  to  La 
Jonchere  was  intercepted.  This  letter,  among  other  pressing 
recommendations  to  the  prisoner,  contained  that  of  maintaining 
silence  in  all  circumstances  in  regard  to  his  relations  with  Le 
Blanc,  and  promised  that,  if  he  did  this,  the  friends  of  the  latter 
would  undertake  to  save  him. 

So  astounded  were  Monsieur  le  Due  and  the  majority  of  his 
counsellors  at  such  tactics  on  the  part  of  their  enemies  that,  for 
a  moment,  they  were  at  a  loss  how  to  proceed.  Madame  de 
Prie,  however,  retained  her  presence  of  mind  and  insisted  on 
prompt  and  energetic  action,  pointing  out  that  it  was  now  a 
case  of  war  to  the  knife  in  the  most  literal  sense  of  the 
expression,  and  that,  if  they  did  not  hasten  to  crush  their 
adversaries,  they  would  certainly  be  crushed  themselves. 

It  was  ultimately  decided  to  follow  her  counsels.  The 
Chevalier  de  Belle-Isle  was  forthwith  arrested  and  conveyed  to 
the  Chateau  of  Vincennes.  On  5  March,  Du  Val,  commandant 
of  the  mounted  police,  furnished  with  a  lettre  de  cadiet,  pro- 
ceeded to  Doue,  where  he  arrested  the  late  Minister  for  War 
and  conducted  him  to  Paris  and  the  Bastille.  The  same  night, 
the  police  surrounded  the  hotel  of  the  Comte  de  Belle-Isle,  with 
orders  to  apprehend  both  the  count  and  his  friend  the  Marquis 
de  Conches,  who  was  staying  with  him.  They  secured  Belle-Isle 
and  escorted  him  to  the  Bastille,  whither  his  younger  brother 
had  been  transferred  a  few  hours  previously ;  but  Conches 
disguised  himself  and  succeeded  in  effecting  his  escape  by 
a  secret  door.  He  did  not,  however,  remain  long  at  large,  for 
he  was  captured  the  following  day  at  a  house  in  the  Rue 
Tavannes,  where   he    had   taken   refuge,  and   sent  to  join  his 


ARREST  OF  LEMPEREUR  AND  THE  MESTRES    323 

friends  in  misfortune.  Numerous  other  arrests  followed,  in- 
cluding that  of  Moreau  de  Sechelles,  a  high  official  at  the 
Ministry  of  War  and  an  intimate  friend  of  Le  Blanc.  But 
what  aroused  the  most  sensation  was  the  apprehension  of 
a  man  named  Lempereur  and  his  two  sons  and  of  two  brothers 
called  Mestre,  sons  of  a  soldier  in  the  Cent-Suisses. 

This  Lempereur,  who  lived  in  an  isolated  house  near  the 
wood  of  Rueil,  had  formerly  been  a  gardener  at  the  Chateau 
of  La  Jonchere,  and  he  was  suspected  of  having  murdered 
Sandrier,  with  the  assistance  of  his  sons  and  the  Mestres. 
He  was  also  suspected  of  being  concerned  in  another  crime, 
which  the  police  believed  to  be  closely  connected  with  the  first. 
One  evening  in  September,  1722 — that  is  to  say,  about  five 
months  after  the  discovery  of  Sandrier's  body — a  carter  in  the 
employ  of  the  tenant  of  La  Malmaison,  a  farm  upon  the  La 
Jonchere  estate,  afterwards  celebrated  as  the  residence  of  the 
Empress  Josephine,  had  been  murdered  close  to  his  master's 
door.  As  nothing  upon  him  had  been  touched,  and  he  was 
not  known  to  have  any  private  enemies,  the  inference  was 
that  he  had  been  in  possession  of  certain  facts  concerning  the 
death  of  Sandrier  which  had  made  his  removal  necessary  to 
the  safety  of  the  assassins. 

It  was  the  intention  of  the  new  Government  to  concentrate 
all  their  efforts  to  secure  the  total  ruin  of  Le  Blanc,  the  very 
life  and  soul  of  the  hostile  faction.  He  was  to  be  brought  to 
trial  on  two  charges  :  the  old  one  of  embezzlement  of  public 
funds,  the  new  one  of  homicide.  The  first  would  be  easy  to 
prove ;  in  fact,  his  culpability,  if  not  the  exact  extent  of  it,  had 
been  clearly  revealed  by  the  examination  of  La  Jonchere's 
papers.  The  second  presented  much  greater  difficulties,  but 
it  was  obvious  that  a  conviction  on  the  charge  of  embezzlement 
would  greatly  facilitate  the  task  of  the  prosecution. 

The  Orlcanists,  on  their  side,  made  the  most  desperate 
efforts  to  intimidate  their  adversaries  into  abandoning  their 
designs  against  the  ex-Secretary  of  State.  Insults  and  menaces 
rained  upon  Monsieur  le  Due,  upon  Madame  de  Trie,  upon 
the  Paris  brothers,  upon  d'Ombreval,  and  upon  all  their  mos  t 


324       THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS  OF  THE   COND&S 

prominent  supporters  ;  the  most  disgusting  effusions  concerning 
the  Prime  Minister  and  his  favourite  were  scattered  about  in 
the  gallery  and  salons  of  Versailles  and  even  in  the  bedchamber 
of  the  young  King ;  the  most  biting  chansons  circulated  in 
Paris ;  almost  every  day  came  warnings  that  their  lives  were 
in  danger ;  and  a  relative  and  staunch  adherent  of  Madame 
de  Prie  died  suddenly,  in  circumstances  which  left  little  doubt 
that  he  had  been  poisoned. 

The  Government,  however,  refused  to  be  diverted  from  its 
course.  The  proceedings  against  La  Jonchere  were  continued, 
and  on  15  April,  1724,  the  Commission  censured  him,  declared 
him  incapable  of  holding  any  office  under  the  Crown,  and 
condemned  him  to  restore  to  the  King  2,100,000  livres — a 
very  small  part  of  the  amount  of  which  the  State  had  been 
defrauded.1  The  Comte  de  Belle-Isle  was  to  be  surety  for 
600,000  livres  of  this  sum. 

This  mitigated  condemnation  was  intended  to  convey  the 
impression  that  La  Jonchere  had  only  been  acting  under  the 
orders  of  the  late  Minister  for  War,  and  that  the  latter  was 
the  real  culprit. 

In  the  meanwhile,  the  Government  had  decided  to  endeavour 
to  bring  home  to  Le  Blanc  yet  another  mysterious  crime.  In 
the  spring  of  171 8,  a  certain  Gazan  de  la  Combe,  of  whom  very 
little  is  known,  had  been  found  dead,  strangled  by  a  cord 
attached  to  the  foot  of  his  bed,  at  the  house  of  La  Barre,  lieu- 
tenant of  the  constabulary,  in  the  Rue  Notre-Dame  de  Bonne- 
Nouvelle.  Le  Blanc  and  other  Ministers  had,  it  appeared,  been 
in  the  habit  of  consigning  to  the  care  of  La  Barre  certain  persons 
who  had  incurred  their  displeasure,  and  it  was  given  out  that  the 
dead  man  had  been  confined  there  on  account  of  intrigues  on 
behalf  of  the  Spanish  Ambassador,  the  Due  and  Duchesse  du 
Maine,  and  their  accomplices,  and  that,  knowing  that  it  was  the 
intention  of  the  Government  to  bring  him  to  trial,  he  had,  in  his 
despair,  committed  suicide.  Now,  however,  an  officer  in  the 
Army  came  forward  who  informed  the  police  that,  at  the  time 

1  The  total  amount  of  the  defalcations  was  estimated  at  12,000,000  livres  at  the 
very  least. 


MURDER  OF  GAZAN   DE  LA  COMBE        325 

of  the  death  of  La  Combe,  he  happened  to  be  detained  in  the 
same  house,  by  orders  of  Le  Blanc  ;  that  one  morning,  attracted 
by  cries  of  terror  from  the  wife  of  La  Barre,  he  had  hurried  to 
La  Combe's  room,  where  he  found  him  lying  dead,  but  that, 
from  the  position  of  the  body,  he  was  of  opinion  that  it  was 
impossible  for  him  to  have  taken  his  own  life.  He  added  that, 
while  he  was  in  the  room,  Le  Blanc  had  entered,  accompanied 
by  La  Barre  ;  that  the  Minister,  on  perceiving  him,  had  appeared 
very  agitated,  and  had  demanded  of  La  Barre  why  he  had  not 
set  him  at  liberty  two  days  before,  in  accordance  with  his  instruc- 
tions, and  had  then  ordered  him  to  leave  the  house.  This 
evidence  was  subsequently  confirmed  by  one  of  La  Barre's 
servants. 

In  the  opinion  of  the  police,  there  was  little  doubt  that  the 
unfortunate  La  Combe  had,  like  Sandrier,  been  in  possession  of 
certain  facts  concerning  the  Emergency  War  Fund  which  made 
his  removal  advisable  ;  and  La  Barre  and  his  wife  were  promptly 
arrested  and  conducted  to  the  Bastille. 

Matters  now  began  to  look  very  black  indeed  for  Le  Blanc, 
and  there  were  not  a  few  who  declared  that  he  might  consider 
himself  very  fortunate  if  he  did  not  terminate  his  career  on  the 
gibbet  But,  fortunately  for  the  ex-Minister  for  War,  he  was, 
through  his  title  of  honorary  maitre  des  requites,  a  member  of 
the  Parlement  of  Paris,  and  had  therefore  the  right  to  demand 
to  be  judged  by  all  the  Chambers  sitting  together  ;  and  just  as 
he  was  about  to  be  brought  to  trial,  he  presented  to  the  Parle- 
ment a  petition  to  that  effect,  which  was  immediately  granted. 

This  move  on  the  part  of  the  accused  was  a  serious  check  to 
Monsieur  le  Due  and  Madame  de  Prie,  who  for  a  moment  had 
imagined  that  they  had  their  enemy  in  their  power,  and  that 
they  were  on  the  point  of  dealing,  through  his  condemnation, 
an  overwhelming  blow  to  the  hostile  faction.  For  the  Parle- 
ment was  not  unnaturally  inclined  to  indulgence  when  the  mis- 
deeds of  one  of  its  own  members  was  in  question,  and  Le  Blanc 
had  had  the  good  fortune  to  ingratiate  himself  with  it  during 
the  Regency.  Moreover,  the  Orleans  counted  many  friends 
among  the  magistracy,  the  Cond£s  comparatively  few. 


326       THE  LOVE-AFFAIRS  OF  THE  COND&S 

However,  as  the  trial  was  not  to  come  on  for  several  months, 
they  hoped,  in  the  interval,  so  to  strengthen  their  position  that, 
even  if  the  issue  were  unfavourable  to  them,  the  consequences 
would  be  of  comparatively  small  importance.  Their  great 
object  was  to  ingratiate  themselves  with  Louis  XV.  and  to 
combat  the  increasing  influence  of  Fleury  over  the  young 
monarch's  mind,  in  which  they  perceived  an  even  greater  danger 
than  the  enmity  of  the  Orleans. 

"  The  Prime  Minister  governs  certainly,"  writes  that  shrewd 
observer,  the  Venetian  Ambassador,  Morosini,  "  and  directs  the 
affairs  of  the  kingdom,  as  well  as  its  foreign  policy.  The 
bishop  appears  to  court  effacement  and  to  be  reluctant  to 
meddle  with  anything.  But  nothing  is  concluded  without  the 
King's  consent,  and  the  King  decides  nothing  without  the 
bishop's  approval.  A  few  days  ago,  for  example,  Monsieur  le 
Due  presented  himself  to  beg  him  to  name  an  hour  which  would 
be  convenient  to  him  for  work.  The  King  was  playing  cards 
with  the  Due  de  Noailles,  and,  not  seeing  the  Bishop  of  Frejus, 
gave  orders  that  he  should  be  summoned  immediately.  After 
which  he  continued  to  play  until  the  arrival  of  the  bishop,  whom 
he  then  caused  to  enter  into  his  cabinet  with  Monsieur  le  Due. 
What  passed  on  this  occasion  is  constantly  happening.  ...  I 
hear  that  the  Prime  Minister  has  never  had  a  conversation  with 
the  King  alone,  while  the  bishop  speaks  to  him  when  and  where 
he  pleases. 

"  Moreover,  it  is  continually  being  said  in  public  that,  if  an 
ecclesiastic  is  to  continue  the  traditions  of  the  Dubois,  the 
Mazarins,  and  the  Richelieus,  it  will  be  without  doubt  the 
Bishop  of  Frejus.  .  .  . 

"  Monsieur  le  Due  and  his  entourage  perceive  with  mortifica- 
tion the  continual  encroachments  of  the  bishop.  They  fear  and 
detest  him,  but  they  dare  not  attack  him  openly,  finding  his 
position  too  strong." 

However,  if  Fleury's  position  were  too  strong  to  be  carried 
by  a  direct  attack,  it  was  not  too  strong  to  be  undermined,  and 
the  idea  occurred  to  Madame  de  Prie  to  draw  the  aged  Marechal 
de  Villeroy,  Louis  XV.'s  former  gouverneur,  from  his  retirement 


MADAME   DE   PRIE  POLITICIAN  327 

and  oppose  him  to  the  Bishop  of  Frejus.  The  marshal,  it  will 
be  remembered,  had  been  banished  from  Court  by  the  Regent  in 
1722,  since  which  time  he  had  been  vegetating  in  his  government 
of  Lyons.  The  young  King  had  been  attached  to  Villeroy  and 
had  shed  bitter  tears  when  he  learned  of  his  disgrace,  and  if,  in 
the  interval,  his  sentiments  had  not  changed,  the  ex-gouverneur 
might  easily  become  a  formidable  rival  to  the  bishop. 

Louis  XV.  seemed  quite  delighted  at  the  prospect  of  seeing 
his  old  friend  again,  and  the  hopes  of  the  conspirators  ran  high. 
But  they  were  fated  never  to  materialize,  for,  though  his  Majesty 
received  the  marshal  graciously  enough,  he  subsequently  took 
so  little  notice  of  him,  that  the  old  man,  deeply  mortified,  almost 
immediately  quitted  the  Court  and  never  appeared  there  again. 
Thus,  the  influence  of  Fleury  remained  as  potent  as  ever,  and, 
since  he  had  not  failed  to  penetrate  this  little  manoeuvre,  the 
antipathy  which  he  had  always  felt  for  Monsieur  le  Due  and  the 
favourite  was  not  lessened. 

But  Madame  de  Prie  was  a  young  woman  of  infinite  resource 
and  she  had  many  cards  in  her  hands.  Every  day  Monsieur  le  Due 
relied  more  on  her  counsels,  not  only  because  he  had  formed  the 
highest  opinion  of  her  intelligence,  but  because,  as  he  explained 
after  his  disgrace,  he  felt  that  she  was  devoted  to  his  interests, 
"  up  to  the  annihilation  of  every  other  sentiment." 

No  longer  did  she  make  any  pretence  of  being  absorbed  in 
pleasure,  as  in  the  first  weeks  of  her  lover's  Ministry.  She  had 
become  a  politician  of  the  most  ardent  kind,  and  the  greater  part 
of  her  time  was  passed  in  her  cabinet,  dictating  to  the  two 
secretaries  she  employed  for  her  immense  correspondence,  dis- 
cussing with  the  Ministers,  who,  by  their  chief's  desire,  invariably 
consulted  her,  the  most  difficult  questions,  and  making  notes  on 
the  placets  presented  to  Monsieur  le  Due,  every  one  of  which  was 
submitted  to  her.  All  who  approached  her  were  astonished  at 
her  industry,  at  the  shrewdness  of  her  judgment,  and  at  her 
grasp  of  matters  which  are  usually  considered  quite  beyond  the 
comprehension  of  a  young  woman.  "  She  was,"  wrote  the  Abbe 
Legendre,  "  a  heroine  capable  of  regulating  the  affairs  of  a  vast 
empire." 


328       THE  LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   COND&S 

The  immense  patronage  which  Monsieur  le  Due  exercised 
in  both  his  private  and  official  capacities  was  almost  entirely 
directed  by  her,  and,  though  she  was,  of  course,  guided  chiefly 
by  party  considerations,  some  of  her  selections  showed  sound 
judgment.  Thus,  her  choice  of  the  Due  de  Richelieu,  in  1725, 
for  the  Embassy  at  Vienna,  though  ridiculed  at  the  time,  was 
really  a  very  happy  one  ;  and  this  is  admitted  even  by  historians 
so  little  favourable  to  Madame  de  Prie  as  Lemontey. l  Without 
allowing  herself  to  be  discouraged  by  the  failure  of  the  Villeroy 
affair,  the  marchioness  promptly  proceeded  to  make  another 
and  more  important  move. 

The  surest  way  to  gain  the  good  graces  of  the  young  King 
was  to  exploit  his  passion  for  the  chase.  Well,  no  one  was  better 
able  to  procure  him  this  diversion  than  Monsieur  le  Due.  His 
forests  of  Chantilly  and  Halatte  abounded  in  big  game,  already 
beginning  to  fail  in  those  in  the  vicinity  of  Versailles,  owing  to 
their  being  too  constantly  hunted.  The  hunting  establishment 
of  the  prince,  moreover,  enjoyed  an  almost  European  reputa- 
tion, while  he  himself  was  a  famous  man  when  hounds  were 
running. 

At  the  suggestion  of  his  mistress,  Monsieur  le  Due  proposed 
to  the  King  that  he  should  honour  him  by  hunting  his  forests 
and  spend  the  months  of  July  and  August  at  Chantilly,  by  which 
means  not  only  would  they  have  every  opportunity  of  gaining 
the  young  monarch's  favour  by  gratifying  his  taste  for  sport  and 
amusement,  but  he  would  be  removed  for  a  time  from  the  in- 
fluence of  Fleury,  and  also  from  that  of  the  Orleans'  faction, 
which  was  continually  bombarding  him  with  petitions  on  behalf 
of  Le  Blanc  and  complaints  as  to  the  alleged  ill-treatment  to 
which  the  ex-Minister  and  his  fellow-prisoners  were  being 
subjected  in  the  Bastille. 

Louis  XV.  received  the  proposal  with  delight,  and  on  the  last 
day  of  June  he  set  out  for  Chantilly,  accompanied  by  a  splendid 
entourage,  from  which  Monsieur  le  Due  and  Madame  de  Prie  had 
taken  care  that  every  one  avowedly  hostile  to  their  cause  should 

1  See  his  "  Histoire  de  la  Regence,"  and  the  author's  "  The  Fascinating  Due  dc 
Richelieu"  (London,  Methuen  :  New  York,  Scribner,  1910). 


VISIT  OF  LOUIS  XV.  TO   CHANTILLY       329 

be  excluded,  although  they  had  decided  to  admit  several  of  the 
more  moderate  partisans  of  the  Orleans,  whom  they  hoped  to 
win  over.  The  weather  was  magnificent,  and  Chantilly  had  never 
looked  more  beautiful.  The  King  "  indulged  every  day  in  the 
amusement  of  the  chase,  either  of  the  stag  or  the  boar,  and 
appeared  very  satisfied  with  the  cares  which  Monsieur  le  Due 
took  without  ceasing  to  render  his  stay  at  this  superb  chateau 
agreeable."  His  Majesty  dined  daily  with  the  princes  and 
nobles  whom  he  did  the  honour  to  select,  and  in  the  evening 
supped  with  Madame  la  Duchesse,  Mile,  de  Clermont,  and  a  few 
ladies  and  nobles,  whom  he  named  in  rotation,  his  table  being 
served  with  extreme  magnificence.  After  supper,  the  company 
adjourned  to  a  gallery  adjoining  the  King's  apartments,  where 
high  play  went  on  until  a  late  hour,  to  the  accompaniment  of 
Monsieur  le  Dues  private  band. 

Thus  the  days  went  by,  and  his  Majesty  was  so  delighted  with 
the  splendid  sport  provided  for  him,  and  the  unceasing  efforts  of 
Monsieur  le  Due  and  Madame  de  Prie  to  keep  him  amused,  that 
his  former  prejudice  against  them  seemed  to  have  disappeared 
entirely.  He  laughed  and  jested  with  his  host,  invited  the 
marchioness  to  sup  at  his  own  table  and  to  ride  in  his  carriage 
to  the  chase,  and,  indeed,  was  so  gracious  to  that  lady  that  a 
rumour  circulated  in  Paris  that  she  and  her  fair  friends  had 
designs  upon  the  virtue  of  the  young  monarch.  In  short, 
everything  was  proceeding  as  well  as  could  possibly  be  desired, 
and  the  King  had  even  decided  to  prolong  his  visit  beyond  the 
time  he  had  originally  fixed,  when  a  most  unexpected  and  un- 
fortunate event  brought  it  to  an  abrupt  conclusion,  and  with 
it  all  the  calculations  of  Madame  de  Prie. 

On  the  afternoon  of  31  August,  the  young  Due  de  Melun, 
one  of  the  few  of  his  courtiers  for  whom  Louis  XV.  had  shown 
any  partiality,  was  charged  by  a  stag  which  he  was  pursuing, 
and  so  badly  gored  that  he  died  in  the  early  hours  of  the 
following  morning.  This  tragedy  produced  so  painful  an 
impression  upon  the  young  King  that  it  was  only  with  great 
difficulty  that  he  could  be  prevented  from  returning  to  Versailles 
that   very  evening,  and,  though  he  consented  to  postpone  his 


330      THE  LOVE-AFFAIRS  OF  THE   COND&S 

departure  until  3  September,  he  scarcely  left  his  apartments  and 
refused  to  share  in  any  amusement.  He  quitted  the  splendid 
residence  of  Monsieur  le  Due  with  very  different  feelings  from 
those  which  he  had  shown  a  few  days  previously,  and  there 
could  be  little  doubt  that  the  death  of  the  Due  de  Melun 
had  effaced  the  good  impression  which  the  prince  and  his  mis- 
tress had  been  at  such  infinite  pains  to  create,  and  that  it  would 
be  many  a  long  day  ere  he  consented  to  return  to  a  spot  which 
possessed  such  dolorous  associations. 

And  so,  like  the  recall  of  Villeroy,  the  Chantilly  visit  had 
failed  to  produce  the  desired  effect,  though  through  no  fault  of 
those  who  had  planned  it ;  and  at  the  beginning  of  1725  the 
Conde*  party  sustained  another  check. 

On  7  January,  the  late  Minister  for  War,  Le  Blanc,  was 
arraigned  before  the  assembled  Chambers,  charged  with  being 
an  accomplice  of  the  murders  of  Gazan  de  la  Combe,  Sandrier, 
and  the  carter  of  La  Malmaison,  and  of  the  attempted  assassina- 
tion of  La  Guilloniere.  The  trial,  into  the  details  of  which  it 
is  impossible  to  enter  here,  lasted  a  fortnight,  but  almost  from 
the  first  day  it  was  evident  that  the  result  was  a  foregone  con- 
clusion. The  entry  of  the  Due  d'Orleans,  the  Prince  de  Conti 
and  their  suites  into  the  Grande  Chambre  was  greeted  with  loud 
murmurs  of  approbation  ;  that  of  the  peers  of  the  Conde  party, 
the  Dues  de  la  Feuillade,  de  Brancas,  and  de  Richelieu,  with 
derisive  laughter.  The  Bishops  of  Sarlat  and  Avranches,  Le 
Blanc's  brothers,  the  Marechal  de  Bezons,  his  brother-in-law, 
the  Chevalier  Le  Blanc,  his  son,  and  other  relatives  and  intimate 
friends  of  the  accused,  sat  together  in  a  body  and  displayed 
so  much  emotion  that  many  of  the  judges  could  hardly  restrain 
their  tears.  And  the  line  taken  by  the  defence — that  Le  Blanc 
was  a  victim  of  party  rancour  and  that  the  charges  against  him 
had  been  manufactured  by  the  Government — was  admirably 
calculated  to  appeal  to  the  prejudice  of  a  magistracy  which 
almost  invarably  found  itself  in  opposition  to  the  Ministry  of 
the  day. 

The  proceedings,  contrary  to  custom,  were  conducted  with 
closed  doors,  the  public  being  rigorously  excluded  ;  a  great  part 


CLAIM.    I.K    IU.ANC 
kkiim    \-;   i"."  ,,\\'!ni,   i;v   !■.    Dui-:vi-:r,   ai  ■  if.k    nil    iainii-..,   r-,\    a.   i.i-:   i'kif. 


A   MISCARRIAGE  OF   JUSTICE  331 

of  the  evidence  for  the  prosecution  was  ruled  out,  while  every- 
thing that  was  likely  to  tell  in  favour  of  the  accused  was  at  once 
admitted.  On  the  third  day,  the  Dues  de  la  Feuillade,  de  Brancas, 
and  de  Richelieu  withdrew,  and  were  followed  by  all  the  coun- 
sellors of  the  Conde  party  ;  but  the  Due  d'Orleans  and  the  Prince 
de  Conti  continued  to  encourage  the  defence  by  their  presence 
for  some  days  longer.  Finally,  on  21  January,  the  Parlement, 
by  the  unanimous  vote  of  sixty-nine  judges,  acquitted  Le  Blanc 
on  all  four  changes — a  verdict  which  was  received  with  applause 
by  the  public,  with  whom,  owing  to  various  reasons,  of  which 
we  shall  speak  hereafter,  the  Ministry  of  Monsieur  le  Due  was 
fast  losing  what  popularity  it  had  once  possessed,  and  who, 
ignorant  of  the  strength  of  the  evidence  against  Le  Blanc,  saw 
in  him  only  a  victim  of  the  hatred  of  the  Paris  brothers  and 
Madame  de  Prie.  Notwithstanding  what  certain  historians,  who 
were  unacquainted  with  the  facts  as  they  are  known  to-day, 
have  asserted  to  the  contrary,  there  can  be  very  little  doubt  that 
the  ex-Minister  for  War  had  benefited  by  one  of  those  scandalous 
miscarriages  of  justice  of  which  the  records  of  the  Parlement 
of  Paris  afford  only  too  many  examples.  Before  an  impartial 
tribunal  he  would  have  been  almost  certainly  found  guilty  on 
the  charges  relating  to  Gazan  de  la  Combe  and  La  Guilloniere, 
and  probably  on  the  others  also  ;  and,  whatever  may  be  thought 
of  the  motives  of  Madame  de  Prie,  she  had  rendered  a  public 
service  by  her  efforts  to  run  to  earth  this  highly-placed  criminal. 

Le  Blanc,  although,  as  a  wag  remarked,  "after  being  very 
black,  he  had  been  made  white  {blanc)  again,"  was  not  immedi- 
ately released,  but  remained  in  the  Bastille  until  the  following 
12  May,  when  he  was  set  at  liberty  and  exiled  to  Lisieux.  On 
the  same  day,  the  Comte  de  Belle-Isle  was  also  liberated,  and 
exiled  to  Carcassonne.  Two  months  later,  La  Jonchere  also 
found  himself  a  free  man. 

The  ex-Minister's  accomplices  were  brought  to  trial  before 
the  Tournelle,1  and  were  all  acquitted,  with  the  exception  of  La 
Jonchcre's  gardener  Lempereur,  who  was  found  guilty  of  the 
La  Malmaison  murder  and  broken  on  the  wheel.     He  paid  for  all. 

1  The  Tournelle  was  the  court  of  criminal  jurisdiction  of  the  Parlement. 


CHAPTER  XXIII 

Monsieur  le  Due  and  Madame  de  Prie  determine  to  break  off  the 
marriage  of  Louis  XV.  and  the  Infanta,  and  to  marry  the  young  King  to  a 
princess  capable  of  at  once  giving  him  an  heir — Double  interest  of  the 
favourite  in  the  accomplishment  of  this  design — Question  of  the  remarriage 
of  Monsieur  le  Due — Madame  de  Prie,  unable  to  oppose  this,  selects  Marie 
Leczinska — Rupture  of  the  Spanish  marriage — Exasperation  of  the  Court  of 
Madrid — Difficulty  of  finding  a  suitable  consort  for  Louis  XV. — Madame  de 
Prie  accused  of  having  barred  the  way  of  Mile,  de  Vermandois  to  the  crown 
matrimonial — The  favourite  advocates  the  claims  of  Marie  Leczinska,  who  is 
eventually  chosen — Triumph  of  Madame  de  Prie — Arrival  of  the  new  Queen 
— A  model  husband — Growing  unpopularity  of  the  Government  and  increasing 
influence  of  Fleury — An  unsuccessful  intrigue — Madame  de  Prie  retires  from 
Court,  but  Motisieur  le  Due  insists  on  her  return—  Disgrace  of  Monsieur  le 
Due — His  mother  and  his  mistress  follow  him  to  Chantilly — Madame  de 
Prie  is  exiled  to  Normandy — A  touching  farewell — Chivalrous  behaviour  of 
the  prince — Death  of  Madame  de  Prie — Remarriage  of  Monsieur  le  Due— 
His  death. 

l\/TONSIEUR  LE  DUC  and  Madame   de  Prie    did  not 

1 VL      allow  themselves  to  be  cast  down  by  the  reverse  which 

they  had  sustained  at  the  Palais  de  Justice,  since  for  some 

months  they  had  been  meditating  a  most  daring  project,  which, 

they  believed,  would  render  them  absolute  masters  of  the  field. 

We  have  mentioned  that  in  172 1  the  Infanta  Luisa  Isabella, 
then  in  her  fifth  year,  had  been  sent  to  the  French  Court  to  be 
brought  up  there  until  she  had  reached  a  marriageable  age,  when 
she  was  to  become  the  wife  of  Louis  XV.  Well,  this  arrange- 
ment had  always  been  regarded  with  the  strongest  disfavour  by 
Monsieur  le  Due  and  his  mistress.  In  the  first  place,  years  must 
elapse  before  the  "  Infanta-Queen,"  as  the  little  princess  was 
called,  would  be  able  to  bear  an  heir  to  the  throne,  and  should 
Louis  XV.  die  without  male  issue,  their  enemy,  the  Due  de 
Chartres,   would  become   King.     In    the    second,   should   the 

332 


DIPLOMACY   OF   MME.   DE   PRIE  333 

Infanta  succeed  in  gaining  any  influence  over  the  young  monarch's 
mind,  that  influence  would  certainly  be  exploited  by  Philip  V. 
to  bring  about  the  dismissal  of  Monsieur  le  Due  and  the  elevation 
of  the  Orleans. 

During  the  visit  of  the  King  to  Chantilly  in  the  previous 
summer  they  had  taken  counsel  with  Paris-Duverney  and  their 
principal  advisers,  and  had  decided  that  the  Infanta  must  be 
sent  back  to  Spain,  even  at  the  risk  of  an  open  breach  with 
Philip  V. ;  and  Louis  XV.  married  to  some  princess  who  could 
at  once  make  him  a  father. 

Madame  de  Prie  had  personally  a  double  interest  in  the 
accomplishment  of  this  design,  for  not  only  would  it  remove 
the  greatest  dangers  which  Monsieur  le  Due  had  to  fear  and 
immensely  strengthen  his  position,  but  the  marriage  of  the  King 
and  the  birth  of  a  prince  would  serve  to  retard  perhaps  indefi- 
nitely the  marriage  of  her  lover.  For  while  only  two  lives  stood 
between  Monsieur  le  Due  and  the  throne,  it  was  obviously  his 
duty  to  take  a  second  wife,  and  Madame  la  Duchesse  was  con- 
tinually urging  him  to  do  so.  Such  a  prospect  was  naturally 
most  distasteful  to  Madame  de  Prie,  not  because  she  had  much 
reason  to  fear  a  rival  in  the  prince's  affections,  but  because  she 
had  become  so  attached  to  him  that  she  could  not  bear  the 
thought  of  surrendering  him,  even  nominally,  to  another  woman, 
Moreover,  his  remarriage  must  interfere  to  some  extent  with 
that  free  intercourse  which  had  hitherto  existed  between  them, 
and  which,  for  political  as  well  as  sentimental  reasons,  might 
occasion  serious  inconvenience. 

However,  since  she  did  not  see  her  way  to  offer  any  opposi- 
tion to  the  affair  without  the  risk  of  an  open  quarrel  with 
Madame  la  Duchesse,  she  decided  to  accept  the  inevitable,  and  to 
occupy  herself  in  finding  a  wife  for  her  lover  who,  while  not  pos- 
sessing sufficient  personal  attractions  to  cause  her  any  jealousy, 
would  be  sufficiently  complaisant  to  reduce  the  incoveniences 
which  she  feared  to  a  minimum. 

She  accordingly  lent  Madame  la  Duchesse  her  most  devoted 
adherents,  the  same  whom  she  was  presently  to  employ  on 
behalf  of  Louis  XV.  ;  and  the  Courts  of  Europe  were  ransacked 


334       THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   COND&S 

to  find  a  suitable  partner  for  the  chief  of  the  Condes.  The  search 
proved  to  be  a  difficult  one,  for  Madame  de  Prie's  requirements 
naturally  caused  not  a  few  otherwise  eligible  young  ladies  to 
be  passed  over  by  her  agents  ;  but,  at  length,  her  old  admirer 
Lozilieres,  formerly  secretary  to  the  Embassy  at  Turin,  who 
journeyed  under  the  name  of  the  Chevalier  de  Mere  and  in  the 
character  of  a  wandering  artist,  reported  the  discovery  of  one 
whom  he  thought  might  answer  her  purpose. 

The  princess  in  question  was  Marie  Leczinska,  daughter  of 
Stanislaus  Leczinski,  the  dethroned  and  fugitive  King  of 
Poland,  who  was  now  vegetating  sadly  at  Weissembourg,  in 
Alsace.  She  was  described  as  pleasing  in  appearance,  though 
without  any  pretensions  to  beauty,  very  amiable,  very  kind- 
hearted,  and  entirely  devoid  of  ambition  ;  in  short,  exactly  the 
kind  of  young  woman  to  make  Monsieur  le  Due  a  good  wife, 
without  threatening  any  danger  to  his  mistress.  The  favourite's 
suggestion  of  an  alliance  between  the  Due  de  Bourbon  and  the 
Polish  princess  was  well  received  by  Madame  la  Duchesse,  for, 
though  the  young  lady's  father  was  at  present  in  exile,  it  was 
far  from  improbable  that  a  turn  of  fortune  might  one  day  restore 
him  to  his  throne ;  Monsieur  le  Due  offered  no  opposition  ; 
Stanislaus  gave  thanks  to  Heaven  that  his  daughter's  hand  was 
sought  by  so  powerful  a  prince  ;  Marie  had  no  other  wish  than 
that  of  her  father  ;  and  the  affair  was  almost  concluded,  when 
events  occurred  which  decided  the  Government  that  the  marriage 
of  the  King  to  a  princess  capable  of  bearing  him  children  was  a 
question  which  admitted  of  no  delay. 

On  30  August,  1724,  the  young  King  of  Spain  died,  and 
Philip  V.  resumed  the  crown  which  he  had  resigned  a  few 
months  before.  Early  in  1725,  a  despatch  from  Philip  to  his 
Ambassador  at  the  Court  of  Versailles  was  intercepted  by  the 
agents  of  Monsieur  le  Due,  which  showed  that  it  was  his  inten- 
tion to  demand  "  the  public  declaration  of  the  nuptial  arrange- 
ments" between  Louis  XV.  and  the  Infanta.  And,  almost 
immediately  after  this  discovery,  the  young  King  fell  so  ill  that 
for  several  days  he  was  believed  to  be  in  serious  danger. 

This  last  event  precipitated  matters,  and  the  French  Govern- 


RUPTURE   OF  THE   SPANISH    MARRIAGE     335 

ment  resolved  not  to  wait  until  the  new  fiancee  was  chosen,  but 
to  inform  the  Court  of  Madrid  at  once  of  the  resolution  at 
which  they  had  arrived.  The  Marechal  de  Tesse,  the  French 
Ambassador,  little  suitable  to  undertake  so  disagreeable  a  com- 
mission, on  account  of  his  great  attachment  to  Philip  V.,  was 
recalled,  and  it  was  the  Abbe  de  Livry,  charge  d'affaires  at  Lisbon, 
who  presented  to  his  Catholic  Majesty  the  letter  in  which  Louis 
XV.  endeavoured  to  justify  the  affront  which  he  was  inflicting  on 
his  uncle.  "  Trembling  from  head  to  foot,  the  abbe  presented 
to  the  King  his  master's  letter.  The  Queen  was  at  the  end  of 
the  cabinet,  occupied  with  her  correspondence.  Suddenly,  she 
heard  the  King  strike  the  table  violently,  and  cry  out :  '  Ah  ! 
the  traitor ! '  She  ran  to  him.  .  .  .  The  King  handed  her  the 
letter,  saying :  '  Take  it,  Madame,  read  it !  '  The  Queen 
read  it,  and  then,  handing  back  the  letter,  she  replied  with 
great  composure  :  '  Well !  We  must  send  to  receive  the 
Infanta.' " » 

When  the  news  was  known  in  Madrid,  the  indignation  of  the 
populace  knew  no  bounds  ;  excited  crowds  paraded  the  streets  ; 
the  King  of  France  was  burned  in  effigy,  and  the  French  residents 
trembled  for  their  safety.  Philip  V.  even  talked  of  imprisoning 
his  widowed  daughter-in-law  and  her  sister,  Mile,  de  Beaujolais, 
in  some  remote  corner  of  the  kingdom,  where  they  should 
remain  as  hostages.  But  afterwards  he  changed  his  mind,  and 
at  the  end  of  March  they  were  sent  back  to  France,  the  want  of 
courtesy  shown  them  being  in  striking  contrast  to  the  infinite 
formalities  which  marked  the  journey  of  the  Infanta  from 
Versailles  to  Bayonne.  That  little  princess  departed  under 
the  impression  that  she  was  merely  going  to  pay  a  visit  to  her 
family. 

Meanwhile,  the  search  for  the  future  Queen  of  France  was 
being   busily  prosecuted.      The   claims   of  over   one   hundred 

1  President  Henault,  "Memoires."  But,  according  to  Coxe  ("History  of  the 
House  of  Austria"),  Isabella  Farnese  was  anything  but  composed:  "In  the  first 
paroxysms  of  rage,  the  Queen  tore  off  a  bracelet  ornamented  with  a  portrait  of  the 
King  of  France  and  trampled  it  under  her  foot ;  and  Philip  declared  that  Spain  could 
never  shed  enough  blood  to  avenge  the  indignity  offered  to  his  family." 


336       THE    LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   CONDES 

princesses  were  discussed  by  the  Council,  and  one  after  another 
eliminated  from  the  list,  on  the  score  that  they  were  too  old  or 
too  young  or  too  poor  or  too  delicate,  until  the  number  was 
reduced  to  three ;  the  two  youngest  sisters  of  Monsieur  le  Due, 
Mile,  de  Vermandois  and  Mile,  de  Sens,  and  the  Princess  Anne 
of  England. 

The  idea  of  a  marriage  between  Louis  XV.  and  one  of  the 
Condes  displeased  Fleury,  while  Monsieur  le  Due  feared  that  it 
might  expose  him  to  the  charge  of  having  sent  away  the  Infanta 
in  order  to  elevate  his  own  family ;  and  it  was  therefore  decided 
to  demand  the  hand  of  the  English  princess.  It  seems  astonish- 
ing that  Monsieur  le  Due  and  his  advisers  should  not  have 
understood  that  the  question  of  religion  would  prove  an  insuper- 
able obstacle  to  the  proposed  alliance.  They  made  it  conditional 
on  the  Princess  Anne's  conversion  to  Catholicism,  although  the 
Hanoverian  dynasty  occupied  the  throne  of  England  in  virtue 
of  its  Protestant  professions.  As  every  one  but  themselves 
must  have  foreseen,  George  I.'s  answer  was  a  courteous  but  firm 
refusal. 

Monsieur  le  Buc  appeared  to  find  himself  thrown  back  upon 
his  sisters.  Both  possessed  all  the  physical  and  mental  qualifi- 
cations that  could  be  desired  in  a  queen ;  but  the  younger,  Mile. 
de  Sens,  was  very  much  under  the  domination  of  her  mother, 
and  Madame  de  Prie  feared  that  Madame  la  Duchessc  might 
exercise  through  her  an  influence  hostile  to  her  own.  The 
same  objection  did  not  apply  to  her  elder  sister,  and  there  is  a 
tradition  that  the  favourite  went,  under  an  assumed  name,  to  the 
Abbey  of  Fontevrault,  of  which  Mile  de  Vermandois  was  a 
pensio?inaire,  to  inform  her,  on  behalf  of  Monsieur  le  Due,  of  the 
honour  in  store  for  her  ;  that,  in  the  course  of  their  conversation, 
she  inquired  if  she  had  ever  heard  of  Madame  de  Prie,  to  which 
the  young  princess  replied,  in  a  horrified  tone,  that  the  said  lady 
was  a  "  mechante  creature','  whom  no  one  ever  mentioned  in 
the  convent  without  making  the  sign  of  the  Cross ;  that  it  was 
deplorable  that  her  brother  should  have  fallen  under  the 
influence  of  a  person  who  was  detested  by  all  France,  and  that 
he  would  be  well  advised  to  get  rid  of  her  as  soon  as  possible. 


MLLE.    DE  VERMANDOIS  337 

Whereupon,  we  are  told,  Madame  de  Prie  abruptly  quitted 
the  room,  exclaiming  furiously :  "  Va  !  tu  ne  seras  pas  reine  de 
France." 

In  a  monotonous  age  it  seems  a  pity  to  spoil  so  striking  a 
story,  but,  in  the  interests  of  truth,  we  feel  bound  to  mention 
that,  some  three  months  after  the  date  at  which  this  incident 
is  supposed  to  have  occurred,  Mile,  de  Vermandois  wrote  to  the 
favourite  a  letter  couched  in  the  most  cordial  terms,  and  con- 
cluding thus :  "  I  cannot  too  often  repeat  to  you,  Madame,  what 
are  the  sentiments  of  confidence,  friendship,  and  consideration 
that  I  entertain  for  you."  * 

The  fact  of  the  matter  is  that  Mile,  de  Vermandois  did  not 
become  the  bride  of  Louis  XV.,  because  she  preferred  to  become 
the  bride  of  Heaven,  in  which  she  perhaps  showed  a  wise  dis- 
cretion. 

The  refusal  of  Mile,  de  Vermandois  was  probably  a  relief 
to  Monsieur  le  Due,  who  was  aware  that  the  bitterness  and 
jealousy  aroused  by  the  elevation  of  his  sister  would  go  far 
to  outweigh  the  advantages  which  he  would  gain  from  his  close 
connexion  with  the  King.  At  the  same  time,  it  threatened  to 
prolong  a  situation  the  dangers  of  which  had  been  brought 
home  to  him  very  forcibly  by  the  recent  serious  illness  of  his 
young  Sovereign. 

It  was  at  this  moment  that  he  received,  from  the  Empress 
Catherine  of  Russia,  an  offer  which  contributed  indirectly  to 
give  to  the  great  affair  of  the  marriage  of  Louis  XV.  the  most 
unexpected  denotement.  Catherine  proposed  that  her  daughter 
Elizabeth  should  wed  the  King  of  France,  and  that  Monsieur 
le  Due  himself  should  marry  Marie  Leczinska — with  whom  she 
was  no  doubt  aware  that  he  had  already  opened  matrimonial 
negotiations — and  become  the  Russian  candidate  for  the  throne 
of  Poland,  in  succession  to  Augustus  III. 

This  gave  Madame  de  Prie  an  opening  of  which  she  was 
not  slow  to  take  advantage.  The  Russian  alliance,  she  declared, 
to  Monsieur  le   Due,  was   quite  out  of  the   question,    for   the 

1  This  letter  has  been  published  in  full  by  M.  Thirion,  in  his  interesting  monograph 
on  Madame  de  Prie. 


338       THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   CONDfiS 

Princess  Elizabeth  was  reported  to  be  a  true  child  of  her 
mother,  and  would  be  certain  to  acquire  a  great  influence  over 
the  young  King,  which  would,  of  course,  be  directed  by 
Catherine.  But  let  the  prince  resign  his  own  pretensions  to 
the  hand  of  Marie  Leczinska  in  favour  of  his  Sovereign,  and 
not  only  would  he  escape  a  marriage  which  only  a  sense  of  the 
duty  he  owed  his  family  was  impelling  him  to  contract,  but  he 
would  secure  a  Queen  who  would  owe  everything  to  him,  who 
had  no  support  either  in  France  or  abroad,  and  whose  character 
promised  obedience  and  docility. 

The  name  of  Marie  Leczinska  had  already  been  erased  from 
the  list  of  marriageable  princesses,  on  the  ground  that  she 
belonged  to  a  poor  and  dispossessed  family  ;  but,  urged  on  by 
his  mistress  and  Paris-Duverney,  Monsieur  le  Due  immediately 
proceeded  to  advocate  her  claims.  His  proposal  met  with  the 
most  violent  opposition  from  the  Due  d'Orleans,  who  presented 
himself  before  Louis  XV.,  with  tears  coursing  down  his  cheeks, 
and  endeavoured  to  persuade  him  from  a  marriage  contrary, 
he  declared,  to  the  wishes  of  the  nation  ;  while  the  King  of 
Sardinia,  his  Majesty's  grandfather,  indignant  at  not  having 
been  consulted,  addressed  the  most  reproachful  letters  to  the 
young  monarch  concerning  the  mesalliance  which  he  was 
about  to  commit.  But  Fleury,  a  word  from  whom  would  have 
had  more  weight  with  Louis  XV.  than  the  expostulations  of  all 
the  kings  and  princes  in  Europe,  excused  himself  from  express- 
ing an  opinion,  and  on  27  May,  1725,  his  Majesty  announced 
publicly,  after  dinner,  his  approaching  marriage  with  Marie 
Leczinska. 

It  was  a  great  triumph  for  Monsieur  le  Due  and  his  mistress. 
At  one  blow,  so  to  speak,  they  had  got  rid  of  the  Infanta  and 
the  dreaded  influence  of  Philip  V. ;  affianced  the  King  to  a 
princess  who  might  before  a  year  had  elapsed  bear  him  a  son 
to  stand  between  the  Due  d'Orleans  and  the  throne,  and  secured 
a  Queen  of  France  from  whose  influence  they  had  nothing  to 
fear  and  everything  to  hope. 

The  exiles  of  Weissembourg  were  not  allowed  to  remain  in 
doubt  as  to  whom  they  were  indebted  for  their  amazing  good 


TRIUMPH   OF  MME.    DE   PRIE  339 

fortune,  and  they  displayed  a  gratitude  proportioned  to  their 
joy.  "  In  his  correspondence  with  the  Marechal  de  Bourg," 
writes  M.  Thirion,  "  the  dethroned  King  returned  constantly  to 
the  gratitude  which  he,  his  wife,  and  his  daughter  had  vowed  to 
the  Marquise  de  Prie,  to  the  admiration  which  she  had  inspired 
in  them,  to  the  affection  which  they  all  three  bore  her,  to  the 
respectful  gratitude  which  they  professed  for  Monsieur  le  Due. 
It  was  to  Madame  de  Prie  that  they  addressed  themselves,  when 
they  desired  to  know  what  they  were  expected  to  do,  of  this  or 
that  custom  of  the  Court.  And  the  day  when,  in  a  scene  which 
has  remained  celebrated,  the  ex-King  of  Poland  threw  himself 
on  his  knees  to  return  thanks  to  Heaven  for  having  called  his 
daughter  to  such  high  destinies,  he  thought  still  of  the  favourite. 
He  mentioned  her  in  his  thanksgivings." 

But  great  triumphs,  whether  military  or  political,  are  seldom 
cheaply  obtained,  and  in  the  present  instance  the  cost  was  very 
considerable.  Spain  had  been  exasperated  to  the  last  degree 
by  the  almost  brutal  repudiation  of  the  Infanta  and  had  thrown 
herself  into  the  arms  of  Austria  ;  the  Orleans  were  furious  at 
being  outwitted  and  at  the  treatment  to  which  Monsieur  le  Due's 
action  had  exposed  their  relatives  in  Spain,  and  were  more  than 
ever  determined  to  compass  his  disgrace  ;  while  a  great  part 
both  of  the  Court  and  the  nation  was  indignant  at  the  selection 
ofka  princess  without  alliance,  without  fortune,  and  without 
credit. 

However,  when  all  things  were  taken  into  account,  the  Prime 
Minister  and  his  favourite  felt  that  they  had  good  cause  for 
rejoicing,  and  they  awaited  with  impatience  the  coming  of  Marie 
Leczinska  and  the  consummation  of  their  hopes. 

On  15  August,  1725,  the  Due  d'Orleans,  in  the  name  of  the 
King  of  France,  espoused  Marie  Leczinska,  at  Strasbourg.  For 
obvious  reasons,  the  duty  could  not  have  been  an  altogether 
pleasant  one  for  his  Royal  Highness  to  perform,  nor  was  it 
rendered  any  the  more  agreeable  by  the  fact  that  his  enemy, 
Madame  de  Prie,  in  her  capacity  as  one  of  the  twelve  dames  du 
palais  of  the  Queen  of  France,  was  a  witness  of  his  discomfiture. 
The  favourite  might  have  aspired  to  the  more  exalted  post  of 


340       THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   CONDES 

dame  d'atours  (mistress  of  the  robes),  but  this  she  had  prudently 
decided  to  forgo,  lest  she  should  be  accused  of  wishing  to 
dominate  her  Majesty  too  ostensibly.  But  the  successful 
candidate,  the  Comtesse  de  Mailly,  mother-in-law  of  the  future 
mistress  of  Louis  XV.,  was  her  selection,  as  were  all  the  ladies- 
in-waiting. 

Two  days  later,  Marie  Leczinska  set  out  to  join  the  King, 
who  had  just  established  himself  at  Fontainebleau.  It  was 
remarked  that  both  at  Strasbourg  and  during  the  journey  her 
Majesty  showed  an  extreme  graciousness  towards  Madame  de 
Prie,  and  conversed  with  her  longer  and  more  frequently  than 
with  any  of  her  colleagues.  At  Moret,  the  Queen  was  met  by 
Louis  XV.,  accompanied  by  all  the  Princesses.  Marie  descended 
from  her  coach,  and  was  preparing  to  kneel  on  a  cushion  hastily 
thrown,  but  the  King  prevented  her,  kissed  her  on  both  cheeks, 
"  with  a  vivacity  which  astonished  those  who  were  aware  of  his 
timidity  where  women  were  concerned,"  and  did  not  conceal 
his  pleasure.  On  5  September,  the  marriage  was  celebrated,  in 
the  chapel  at  Fontainebleau,  with  the  utmost  magnificence,  and 
the  next  day  Monsietir  le  Due  wrote  to  Stanislaus  Leczinski 
that  his  Majesty's  attitude  towards  his  wife  "  had  surpassed  his 
hopes,  and,  if  possible,  his  desires,"  adding  certain  intimate 
details,  upon  which,  however,  we  dare  not  venture. 

The  Court  remained  at  Fontainebleau  until  the  first  days  of 
December,  when  it  returned  to  Versailles,  where  the  young 
Queen  was  installed  in  the  apartments  formerly  occupied  by 
Marie  Therese  of  Austria  and  the  Duchesse  de  Bourgogne.  No 
cloud  had  as  yet  troubled  the  royal  honeymoon.  The  King  was 
quite  a  devoted  husband  ;  he  passed  every  night  with  his  wife ; 
compared  her  to  Queen  Blanche,  the  mother  of  Saint-Louis, 
and  said  to  those  who  drew  his  attention  to  the  beauty  of  some 
lady  of  the  Court  :  "  I  find  the  Queen  still  more  beautiful." 

Monsieur  le  Due  and  Madame  de  Prie  were  delighted, 
believing  that  from  this  passion  would  spring  true  friendship 
and  confidence  ;  that  gradually  Marie  Leczinska  would  acquire 
ascendency  over  the  mind  of  this  young  King,  half-man,  half- 
child,  and  that  they  would  be  able  to  govern  him  through  her. 


INCREASING   INFLUENCE   OF  FLEURY       341 

And  badly  did  they  stand  in  need  of  a  support  near  the 
throne,  for  every  day  the  Government  of  Monsieur  le  Due  was 
becoming  more  unpopular.  The  cruel  edict  of  May,  1724, 
against  the  Protestants,  loudly  condemned  even  by  many 
staunch  Catholics  ;  the  brutal  manner  in  which  the  laws  against 
mendicity  were  enforced  ;  the  failure  of  the  prosecution  of 
Le  Blanc ;  the  restriction  of  the  privileges  of  the  magistracy, 
in  which  most  people  saw  only  an  act  of  vengeance  for  the 
acquittal  of  the  ex-Minister  for  War ;  the  favour  shown  to  the 
Paris  brothers,  who  were  generally  hated  ;  the  sudden  alliance 
of  Austria  and  Spain  and  the  fear  that  another  war  was  on  the 
point  of  breaking  out ;  the  enormous  rise  in  the  price  of  bread, 
which,  though  mainly  due  to  the  failure  of  the  harvest  of  1725, 
was  attributed  by  the  people  to  the  operations  of  Madame  de 
Prie  and  the  Paris  brothers  ;  and  the  ceaseless  intrigues  of  the 
Orleans  faction,  had  raised  against  it  a  perfect  tempest  of  indigna- 
tion. Riots  broke  out  in  several  towns,  and  were  with  difficulty 
suppressed  ;  satires  and  pamphlets  against  the  Government 
poured  from  the  printing-presses  of  the  capital ;  more  than  one 
Minister  talked  of  resigning  his  office.  Unless  Monsieur  le  Due 
could  secure  the  favour  and  confidence  of  the  King,  his  Ministry 
was  doomed. 

But  between  Monsieur  le  Due  and  the  King  stood  the  figure 
of  Fleury.  The  prince  had  now  been  Prime  Minister  for  two 
years,  yet  never  had  he  succeeded  in  obtaining  a  single  hour's 
private  conversation  with  Louis  XV.  on  affairs  of  State.  A 
score  of  times  when  he  imagined  that  he  had  found  a  favourable 
occasion  to  speak  to  him  on  business,  the  King  had  immediately 
turned  the  conversation  to  the  chase,  the  play  or  some  kindred 
subject,  on  which  he  continued  to  talk  until  Fleury,  whom  he 
never  failed  to  summon,  entered  his  cabinet.  The  previous 
year,  when  Louis  XV.  was  at  Chantilly  and  the  Bishop  of  Frejus 
had  gone  to  spend  a  week  at  the  country-house  of  the  Due 
de  Liancourt,  Monsieur  le  Due  had  endeavoured  to  take  advan- 
tage of  his  absence  ;  but  the  King  intimated  to  him  that  he 
would  do  nothing  until  the  return  of  his  preceptor,  and  even 
refused  to  sign  some  papers  of  trifling  importance  which  were 


342       THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS    OF  THE  COND&S 

awaiting  his  signature.  All  his  efforts  to  secure  the  confidence 
of  the  young  monarch  remained  without  result ;  the  Bishop  of 
Frejus  perpetually  barred  the  way. 

And  he  could  not  disguise  from  himself  the  fact  that 
Fleury  was  no  longer  content  to  remain  neutral.  He  had 
become,  if  not  the  opponent  of  Monsieur  le  Due  himself,  at 
least  that  of  his  chief  advisers.  One  day,  in  the  spring  of  1626, 
he  drew  the  prince  aside,  denounced  in  the  strongest  terms  the 
conduct  of  Madame  de  Prie  and  Duverney,  whom  he  stigma- 
tized as  enemies  of  the  State,  and  declared  that  "  the  reputation 
of  his  Highness  imperiously  demanded  that  he  should  no 
longer  submit  to  the  domination  of  such  unworthy  counsellors." 
It  was  practically  an  ultimatum,  or,  at  any  rate,  Monsieur  le  Due 
regarded  it  in  that  light.  If  he  were  willing  to  dismiss  his 
mistress  and  Duverney  and  govern  on  the  advice  of  Fleury,  the 
latter  would  graciously  permit  him  to  retain  the  simulacrum 
of  power.  If  not,  the  bishop  intended  to  procure  the  disgrace 
of  all  three. 

The  Prime  Minister  warmly  defended  his  friends,  asserting 
that  they  were  the  victims  of  envy  and  prejudice,  and  ended 
by  declaring  that,  since  he  well  knew  that  they  were  ready  to 
hazard  everything  for  him,  even  their  lives,  if  they  were  to  fall, 
he  would  fall  with  them.  Then,  after  high  words  on  both  sides, 
the  prince  and  the  bishop  parted. 

When  this  conversation  was  reported  to  Madame  de  Prie, 
she  at  once  perceived  that  there  could  be  no  safety  for  the 
Ministry  of  Monsieur  le  Due  so  long  as  Fleury  remained  at 
Court,  and  she  represented  to  her  lover  that  all  their  efforts 
must  henceforth  be  directed  to  separating  him  from  the 
King.  It  was,  of  course,  too  much  to  hope  that  Louis  XV. 
would  ever  consent  to  banish  his  former  preceptor,  but  the 
latter  might  be  induced  to  believe  that  he  had  forfeited  his 
Majesty's  confidence  and  retire  of  his  own  accord. 

But  how  was  this  to  be  accomplished  ?  Obviously,  by 
means  of  the  Queen.  Marie  Leczinska,  thanks  to  the  efforts 
of  Madame  de  Prie  and  the  ladies  whom  the  favourite  had 
placed  about  her,  who  insinuated  that  Fleury  was  jealous  of  the 


UNSUCCESSFUL  INTRIGUE  AGAINST  FLEURY   343 

affection  the  King  entertained  for  her,  was  already  prejudiced 
against  the  bishop  ;  while  she  naturally  felt  herself  under  great 
obligations  to  those  who  had  placed  the  crown  matrimonial  upon 
her  head. 

On  18  December,  1725,  it  was  decided  to  make  an  attempt 
to  accustom  the  King  to  work  with  the  Prime  Minister  without 
the  presence  of  his  preceptor.  The  Queen,  after  a  good  deal 
of  hesitation,  had  consented  to  lend  herself  to  this  intrigue, 
certain  indiscreet  words  which  Fleury  had  uttered  in  her  presence 
having  dissipated  her  last  scruples. 

In  accordance  with  the  plan  agreed  upon,  when  Louis  XV. 
returned  from  the  chase,  she  sent  to  ask  him  to  join  her  in  her 
cabinet.  It  was  then  about  an  hour  before  that  which  he 
invariably  spent  in  conversation  with  his  preceptor. 

On  entering  his  wife's  apartments,  the  King  found  her  with 
Monsieur  le  Due.  With  her  most  ingratiating  smile,  the  Queen 
told  him  that  she  had  a  favour  to  ask  of  him.  Would  he  not 
consent  to  work  in  her  cabinet  that  evening  with  the  Prime 
Minister  only  ? 

The  King  refused,  though  she  continued  to  press  him  until 
the  time  arrived  for  him  to  join  Fleury.  Before  he  left,  however, 
she  succeeded  in  extracting  a  promise  from  him  that  he  would 
return  shortly.  Proceeding  to  his  own  apartments,  where  his 
preceptor  was  awaiting  him,  the  King  gave  him  an  exact 
account  of  all  that  had  passed,  at  the  same  time  assuring  him 
that,  he  was  resolved  never  to  work  alone  with  Monsieur  le  Due 
and  not  to  return  to  the  Queen.  Fleury,  however,  begged  him 
to  go  back,  as  he  had  given  his  promise  to  the  Queen,  adding 
that,  if  he  were  determined  not  to  discuss  affairs  of  State  alone 
with  Monsieur  le  Due,  he  had  better  send  for  him,  "  No,  no !  " 
replied  the  King  ;  "  remain  here  ;  I  shall  return  in  a  moment." 

Louis  XV.  went  out,  and  did  not  return,  the  Queen  and 
Monsieur  le  Due  having  detained  him  on  various  pretexts. 
Fleury  waited  an  hour,  and  then,  believing  or,  more  probably, 
feigning  to  believe,  that  the  King  had  yielded  to  the  persuasions 
of  the  Queen,  retired,  and  on  the  following  morning  wrote  to  the 
King,  begging  him,  since  his  services  were   no  longer   of  any 


344       THE  LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   COND&S 

value  to  him,  to  permit  him  to  spend  the  rest  of  his  days  in 
retreat.  After  which,  he  quitted  Versailles  for  a  little  house 
which  he  owned  in  the  village  of  Issy. 

The  King,  who  had  started  very  early  for  the  chase,  did  not 
receive  the  letter  until  the  afternoon.  He  appeared  very  much 
disturbed,  and  retired  at  once  to  his  apartments,  where  he  threw 
himself  into  a  chair  and  remained  for  more  than  an  hour  in  an 
attitude  of  the  most  profound  dejection.  At  length,  one  of  his 
gentlemen  of  the  Chamber,  the  Due  de  Mortemart,  ventured  to 
mention  the  cause  of  his  sorrow.  "  What,  Sire,"  said  he,  "  are 
you  not  the  master  ?  Tell  Monsieur  le  Due  to  send  at  once  for 
M.  de  Frejus,  and  you  will  see  him  again." 

The  King  followed  his  advice ;  the  Prime  Minister  was 
obliged  to  obey,  with  what  feelings  may  be  imagined,  and  on 
the  following  morning  Fleury  returned  in  triumph  to 
Versailles. 

From  that  hour  it  was  clear  that  the  Ministry  was  doomed, 
unless  it  could  come  to  terms  with  the  bishop.  The  outcry 
against  it  redoubled  in  intensity ;  its  more  lukewarm  friends 
began  to  fall  away  and  to  pay  their  court  openly  to  Fleury  ; 
while  the  King's  manner  towards  his  wife  plainly  showed  the 
irritation  which  he  felt  at  her  conduct. 

It  is  probable  that  Fleury  would  have  been  prepared  to 
leave  the  nominal  direction  of  affairs  in  the  hands  of  Monsieur  le 
Due,  at  any  rate  until  the  situation  both  at  home  and  abroad 
had  become  less  embarrassing,  if  the  prince  had  consented  to 
the  dismissal  of  Madame  de  Prie  and  Duverney,  the  two 
particular  objects  of  public  hatred.  Several  times  he  urged  this 
step  upon  the  prince,  only  to  be  met  with  an  assurance  that  both 
of  them  had  practically  ceased  to  exercise  any  political 
influence.  More  wise  than  her  lover,  Madame  de  Prie  sought  to 
conciliate  the  bishop  by  temporarily  renouncing  public  life,  and, 
when  her  duties  as  dame  du  palais  did  not  require  her 
presence  at  the  Court,  passing  the  greater  part  of  her  time  in 
Paris.  At  the  beginning  of  March,  1726,  she  withdrew  to  an 
estate  which  she  had  acquired  near  Lisieux,  whence  she  wrote 
begging  the  Queen  to  accord  her  permission  to  remain  there  for 


MME.   DE  PRIE  RETURNS  TO   COURT        345 

some  time  and  to  allow  one  of  her  colleagues  to  perform  her 
official  functions.  Monsieur  le  Due,  however,  showed  great 
irritation  at  the  departure  of  his  mistress,  the  more  so  since 
it  coincided  with  the  absence  of  Duverney,  who  had  decided  to 
efface  himself  for  a  while  also,  although  the  Prime  Minister 
was  just  then  in  particular  need  of  his  advice  on  some  financial 
question  ;  and  he  accordingly  sent  the  marchioness  what  was 
practically  an  order  to  return  to  Versailles.  She  arrived, 
escorted  by  Duverney,  who  had  received  a  similar  summons  ; 
and  their  unexpected  appearance  upon  the  scene  created  a 
most  unfortunate  impression,  and  convinced  Fleury  that  all  his 
remonstrances  were  useless,  and  that  they  had  acquired  such 
ascendency  over  the  Prime  Minister  that  he  would  never 
consent  to  part  with  them. 

Henceforth,  the  only  question  with  him  was  the  choice  of  a 
convenient  moment  for  the  disgrace  of  Monsieur  le  Due. 
Both  he  and  the  King,  however,  found  it  difficult  to  take  the 
decisive  step,  and  they  were  still  hesitating  when,  on  8  June,  the 
Prime  Minister,  exasperated  by  a  fresh  outburst  against 
Madame  de  Prie,  who  had  just  returned  to  Versailles  from  a 
visit  to  Paris,  came  to  Louis  XV.  and  tendered  his  resignation. 
But  it  was  not  Monsieur  le  Dues  resignation  that  the  bishop 
required,  but  his  dismissal,  and,  on  his  advice,  Louis  XV.,  with 
that  dissimulation  which  was  one  of  the  least  edifying  traits  in 
his  character,  not  only  begged  the  Prime  Minister  to  retain  his 
office,  but  gave  him  "  marks  of  his  friendship  and  satisfaction." 

Monsieur  le  Due  had  no  choice  but  to  withdraw  his  resig- 
nation, and  left  the  royal  presence  under  the  comforting 
impression  that  he  stood  in  no  immediate  danger.  He  was 
speedily  undeceived. 

On  Tuesday,  11  June,  at  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon, 
Monsieur  le  Due,  Madame  de  Prie  and  Duverney  being  all  three 
still  at  Versailles,  Louis  XV.  set  out  for  Rambouillet.  At 
dinner  the  King  had  shown  himself  particularly  gracious  to  the 
Prime  Minister.  He  had  given  him  to  taste  some  bread  which 
had  been  kneaded  specially  for  him  at  the  Menagerie ;  had 
thrown  a  little  loaf  into  his  hat,  and  had  said,  as  he  rose  from 


346       THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   COND&S 

table :  "  Monsieur,  despatch  your  affairs  and  come  early  to 
Rambouillet,  because  I  shall  sup  at  half-past  eight,"  a 
recommendation  which  he  repeated  at  the  moment  of  entering 
his  carriage. 

After  the  King  had  driven  away,  Monsieur  le  Due  went  to 
his  cabinet,  where  he  passed  the  rest  of  the  afternoon  working 
with  the  Minister  for  War,  Breteuil,  and  the  Comptroller- 
General,  Dodun.  Shortly  before  eight  o'clock,  the  other 
Ministers  left  the  chateau,  and  the  prince  was  about  to  follow 
them,  when  he  was  informed  that  the  Due  de  Charost,  Captain 
of  the  Guards,  had  been  waiting  for  three-quarters  of  an  hour  in 
order  to  speak  to  him. 

But  let  us  allow  Mathieu  Marais  to  relate  what  followed  in 
his  own  words : 

"  The  prince  went  out  and  told  the  Due  de  Charost  that  he 
was  going  to  join  the  King  at  Rambouillet,  and  was  pressed  for 
time,  and  asked  him  to  defer  until  the  morrow  what  he  had  to 
say  to  him.  The  Captain  of  the  Guards  answered  in  a  low  tone 
that  what  he  had  to  say  to  him  was  from  the  King  ;  upon  which 
they  re-entered  the  cabinet.  The  Due  de  Charost  handed  him 
an  order  from  the  King,  which  was  to  the  effect  that,  as  he 
wished  to  govern  himself  in  the  future,  he  was  suppressing  the 
office  of  Prime  Minister  ;  that  he  thanked  him  for  his  services, 
and  ordered  him  to  retire  to  Chantilly,  until  further  orders. 
This  order  was  in  the  King's  own  hand.  The  prince's  first 
movement  was  one  of  anger,  after  which  he  said  that  he 
would  obey.  He  asked :  '  And  my  papers  ? '  and  was  told 
that  there  were  no  orders  concerning  them.  He  sorted 
them,  burned  some,  placed  some  in  his  pocket,  and  filled 
a  despatch-box  with  others,  observing :  '  These  are  the  King's 
papers,  and  all  the  others  that  remain  are  his.'  He  wrote  to 
Madame  la  Duchesse  almost,  it  is  said,  in  these  terms  :  '  Every 
day  follows  another,  and  does  not  resemble  it.  Yesterday,  I 
was  Caesar  ;  to-day,  I  am  Pompey.  I  am  going  to  Chantilly. 
I  count,  belle  maman,  on  your  still  preserving  for  me  your  good 
graces.'  He  was  asked  for  his  parole,  which  he  gave,  and  then 
entered  his  carriage,  which  had  been  waiting  for  a  long  time  to 


DISGRACE  OF  M.    LE  DUC  347 

take  him  to  Rambouillet.  He  thanked  all  the  courtiers  who 
accompanied  him  to  his  carriage,  and  when  he  was  outside  the 
gates,  he  was  heard  to  say  to  his  postilion  :  '  To  Chantilly ! ' 
M.  de  Saint-Pol,  exempt  of  the  Guards,  accompanied  him  as 
far  as  the  chateau." 

While  Charost  was  communicating  the  wishes  of  the  King 
to  the  Prime  Minister,  Fleury,  who  was  about  to  replace  him, 
proceeded  to  the  Queen's  apartments,  armed  with  a  letter  which 
he  had  dictated  that  morning  to  his  former  pupil.  It  was  as 
follows :  "  I  beg  you,  Madame,  and,  if  need  be,  I  order  you,  to 
do  everything  that  the  former  Bishop  of  Frejus  will  tell  you  on 
my  behalf,  as  if  it  were  myself." l  The  selection  of  Fleury  to 
inform  the  Queen  of  the  disgrace  of  her  friends  and  to  signify 
to  her  his  orders  was  a  refinement  of  cruelty,  and  the  poor 
woman  wept  bitterly.  After  a  while,  however,  she  recovered 
her  composure  and  wrote  to  the  King  :  "  Gratitude  towards 
Monsieur  le  Due  has  made  me  shed  tears,  but  your  commands 
dry  them." 

As  soon  as  the  bishop  had  departed,  the  Queen  sent  for 
Madame  de  Prie  and  the  fallen  Minister's  favourite  sister,  Mile, 
de  Clermont,  whom  she  informed  of  what  had  occurred.  Both 
ladies  started  that  same  night  for  Chantilly,  where  they  arrived 
at  daybreak.  In  the  evening,  Madame  la  DucJiesse,  who  had 
received  the  news  of  her  son's  disgrace  at  the  Chateau  of 
Saint-Maur,  appeared  upon  the  scene,  with  the  faithful  Lassay 
in  her  train.2  Madame  la  Duchcssc  had  always  detested 
Madame  de  Prie,  and  regarding  her,  as  she  now  did,  as  the  cause 
of  her  son's  disgrace,  her  indignation  against  her  knew  no  bounds. 
"  She  was  very  surprised  to  learn  that  Madame  de  Prie  was  there, 
and  manifested  it  in  terms  which  marked  her  contempt  and 
hatred.  After  having  embraced  her  son,  she  told  him  that  she 
hoped  that  the  lady  would  not  be  so  indiscreet  as  to  present 

1  Marechal  de  Villars,  "  Memoires."  These  orders  were  not  to  receive  Monsieur 
le  Due,  in  case  he  should  present  himself  at  her  apartments,  and,  on  no  considera- 
tion, to  make  any  allusion  in  the  presence  of  the  King  to  that  prince,  Madame  de 
Prie,  or  Paris-Duverncy. 

2  See  page  2S0,  supra. 


348       THE  LOVE-AFFAIRS   OF  THE   COND&S 

herself  before  her.  Monsieur  le  Due  replied  that  she  should  have 
reason  to  be  satisfied,  and  begged  her  not  to  be  displeased  if  he 
did  not  sup  with  her,  as  he  was  very  tired.  He  supped  alone 
with  Madame  de  Prie  ;  Madame  la  Duchesse  supped  with  M.  de 
Lassay. 

"On  the  Thursday,  on  descending  to  dinner,  Madame  la 
Duchesse  perceived  that  a  place  had  been  laid  for  Madame  de 
Prie  next  to  her  own.  She  stopped  and  manifested  her  surprise. 
Madame  de  Prie  approached  and  said  to  her :  *  Is  it  your  wish 
that  I  retire  ? '  She  replied :  4  No,  you  may  sit  down  to 
table ! '  But  she  called  the  Prince  di  Carignano  to  sit  by  her, 
and  Madame  de  Prie  took  the  prince's  place. 

"  As  this  was  done  in  a  manner  sufficiently  humiliating,  there 
were,  after  dinner,  a  great  many  comings  and  goings,  in  order  to 
persuade  Madame  la  Duchesse  to  permit  Madame  de  Prie  to  sup 
with  her.  Finally,  Madame  la  Dtichesse  consented,  out  of  com- 
plaisance for  Monsieur  le  Due,  in  the  state  in  which  he  was." l 

For  nearly  two  days  after  the  disgrace  of  Monsieur  le  Due 
no  steps  were  taken  against  his  mistress.  But  no  one  at 
Chantilly  doubted  that  her  respite  would  be  but  a  brief  one, 
Duverney  had  been  exiled  forty  leagues  from  Paris  ;  all  the 
Ministers  most  attached  to  Monsieur  le  Due  had  been  relieved 
of  their  functions ;  Le  Blanc  and  the  Belle-Isles  had  been 
recalled,  and  the  man  who,  if  he  had  received  his  deserts,  would 
have  been  decorating  a  gibbet  had  actually  been  reinstated  in 
his  old  post  of  Secretary  of  State  for  War,  in  place  of  the 
honest  Breteuil.  In  such  a  revolution  of  the  palace,  it  was 
impossible  for  her  to  escape,  and  on  the  Thursday  evening  the 
blow  fell,  in  the  shape  of  a  lettre  de  cachet  exiling  her  to  her 
husband's  estate  of  Courbepine,  in  Normandy. 

Her  parting  with  Monsieur  le  Due  on  the  morrow  was  a  most 
touching  one.  "  She  kept  up  the  comedy  to  the  last,"  writes  the 
author  of  the  manuscript  we  have  just  cited.  "Twice  after 
entering  her  carriage  she  returned,  not  being  able,  she  said,  to 
depart  without  again  embracing  Monsieur  le  Due.  She  appeared 
in  despair  at  leaving  him,  and  gave  him  all  the  tokens  of  a 

1  "  MS.  of  the  Bastille,"  published  in  "la  Nouvelle  Revue  retrospective." 


LAST   YEARS   OF  MME.   DE   PRIE  349 

passionate  love.     The  prince,  on  his  side,  was  so  afflicted  that  it 
is  impossible  to  describe  it." 

For  ourselves,  we  prefer  to  believe  that  the  grief  of  Madame 
de  Prie  was  as  genuine  as  that  of  Monsieur  le  Due.  It  would 
have  been,  indeed,  strange  if  it  had  not  been  so,  since,  with  all 
his  faults,  he  had  been  to  her  the  most  devoted  and  generous  of 
lovers,  the  truest  and  best  of  friends. 

The  Chateau  of  Courbepine,  which  Louis  XV.  had  fixed  as 
Madame  de  Prie's  place  of  exile,  was  situated  a  little  to  the 
north  of  the  town  of  Bernay,  in  the  midst  of  an  immense  wooded 
plain.  It  had  been  purchased  by  the  Marquis  de  Prie,  not  long 
after  his  marriage,  from  Leonor  de  Matignon,  Bishop  of  Lisieux. 
At  first,  she  received  but  few  visitors,  but  when  it  became  known 
that  Monsieur  le  Due  had  expressed  a  very  ardent  desire  to  see 
her,  and  had  told  the  Marechal  de  Villars  that  "  he  himself  was 
the  cause  of  all  her  misfortunes  and  that  she  did  not  deserve 
them  ;  that  she  had  always  been  disinterested,  and  that  the 
unsatisfactory  condition  of  her  affairs  would  in  time  prove  this," 
people  began  to  think  that,  in  view  of  a  possible  return  of  the 
prince  to  power,  it  would  be  imprudent  to  ignore  the  woman 
who  still  retained  his  affections.  From  that  time  it  became  quite 
the  fashion  to  go  and  spend  a  day  or  two  with  the  proscribed, 
and  the  latter  never  had  any  cause  to  complain  of  lack  of 
company.  Nevertheless,  she  felt  bitterly  the  change  in  her 
position,  and  could  not  disguise  from  herself  the  fact  that, 
notwithstanding  the  chivalrous  endeavours  of  Monsieur  le  Due 
to  saddle  himself  with  the  responsibility  for  their  common 
misfortune,  she  had  largely  contributed  to  it.  She  saw,  too, 
her  relatives  and  proteges  deprived  of  their  charges  and  reduced 
in  some  instances  to  poverty ;  and  this  troubled  her  sorely. 
There  can  be  no  doubt  that,  in  time,  she  would  have  been 
permitted  to  return,  if  not  to  the  Court,  at  least  to  Paris  and 
Chantilly  ;  but  her  health,  always  delicate,  had  begun  to  give 
way  beneath  the  stress  of  so  many  agitations.  She  demanded 
and  obtained  authorization  to  visit  the  waters  of  Forges,  but  the 
relief  they  afforded  her  was  only  temporary.  In  the  early 
autumn  of    1727  she  met  with  a  carriage  accident,  and  though 


350       THE   LOVE-AFFAIRS  OF  THE   COND&S 

the  injuries  she  received  were  not  in  themselves  very  serious, 
they  hastened  her  death,  which  took  place  on  7  October,  1727, 
in  her  thirtieth  year. 

Her  enemies  attributed  her  death  to  poison  administered  by 
her  own  hand,  and  the  Marquis  d'Argenson  has  published,  in 
his  "  Memoires,"  a  highly-coloured  version  of  this  hypothesis,  upon 
which  we  need  not  dwell  here,  since  its  absurdity  has  now  been 
clearly  established. 

Monsieur  le  Due  survived  his  mistress  nearly  fourteen  years. 
In  1830,  he  was  pardoned  and  returned  to  Court,  but  he  never 
reappeared  again  on  the  political  stage,  and  consecrated  the  last 
years  of  his  life  to  the  study  of  chemistry  and  natural  history. 
In  1728,  he  took  unto  himself  a  second  wife,  in  the  person  of  the 
Princess  Charlotte  of  Hesse-Rheinfels,  who  is  described  as 
"blonde  et  (Vim  enbonpoint  agrcable?  with  whom  he  seems  to 
have  lived  very  contentedly,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  she 
is  said  to  have  been  erased  from  the  list  of  eligible  princesses  at 
the  time  of  the  marriage  of  Louis  XV.  on  account  of  her  bad 
temper.  By  her  he  left  one  son,  Louis  Joseph  de  Bourbon, 
Prince  de  Conde,  the  organizer  and  leader  of  the  "Army  of 
Conde,"  which  played  so  gallant  a  part  in  the  Wars  of  the 
French  Revolution.  Monsieur  le  Due  died  on  the  27  January, 
1740,  in  his  forty-ninth  year. 


PRINTED   BY 

WILLIAM   CLOWES    AND   SONS,  LIMITED, 

LONDON'  AND  BECCLES 


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